Ninja Gaiden: Shinju
by Stiengrabbah
Summary: The brink of war is upon the world of ninja. An Archfiend in the form of a forgotten Tailed-Beast is being resurrected by an organization known as The Akatsuki, led by Madara Uchiha. Ryu faces a new threat incomparable to what he has faced before. Teaming up with Naruto Uzumaki and the rest of the ninja world, Ryu must learn about his past and how it is connected to everything.
1. Chapter 1: Hayabusa Ryu, Dragon Ninja!

Ninja Gaiden: Shinju

Chapter 1: Hayabusa Ryu, Dragon Ninja!

**The Dragon Ninja.  
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**A clan of divine warriors descended from the **_**Ryuujin (**__**龍神**__**, Dragon Gods) **_**who ****bestowed their divine powers into a single blade made from the tooth of one of their kind.**

**The Dragon Sword was used to defeat the Dark Dragon whose mind had been poisoned by Vigoor, the first Deity of Evil, in an attempt to rule over the human race and reshape the universe into that of an evil one.**

**The Hayabusa Clan, who resides near Mt. Fuji, are tasked with carrying out their ancestors' duties of sealing away demons and fiends alike who wish to bring the world to ruin.**

**Ryu Hayabusa is heir to the Dragon Lineage and as his journey began, little did he know what would transpire….**

The peak of Mt. Fuji has erupted.

This meant that the Archfiend Vazdah, successor to Vigoor, was indeed resurrected to full form.

"Ohh dear…I do hope Ryu and that CIA girl are alright. With Vazdah awakened, there's no telling what that blasted Archfiend will do to the world." An elderly man spoke as he store up at the erupted peak that separated the Hayabusa Clan and the Black Spider Clan on opposite sides.

In the volcano, a woman ran towards the wreckage of the explosion. It wasn't an ordinary eruption of lava but an explosion of massive power after Ryu had encountered the final form of Lord Vazdah.

"Ryu!" The woman shouted, her voice harboring deep concern for the Dragon Ninja.

Turning after calling his name for a second time, she noticed what seemed to be Vazdah himself. Seemingly petrified, she approached the remnants carefully.

The dead-looking head of the Archfiend store at her as if it longed for her flesh and blood, giving an eerie vibe that could even give the deadliest of fiends a shiver. As she approached it some more it began to budge.

"N-No! This isn't happening…it can't be alive!" The CIA woman panicked, moving back slightly as he eyes were filled with fear.

The head was then pushed aside like an annoying boulder as Ryu emerged from the destruction his final battle had caused.

He looked over at Sonia, seeing that she was fine which gave him some relief. He approached her to make sure regardless of her seemingly unharmed look and demeanor.

"It's okay…it's over now." He spoke firmly as usual while looking off into the sunrise, which shined ever so brightly. Casting out the darkness yet again.

"You're hurt, you should see someone about your injuries." Sonia proclaimed her concerns only to be denied by Ryu who shook his head.

"I'll heal. I have one last thing to do before I continue my journey. As for yourself, Sonia, you need to return to America and report to your superiors about this incident." He instructed soon after

Struck with a somewhat disappointed look, she knew he was right. Greater Fiend Alexei kidnapped her after all.

"Right…so this is goodbye then?" Sonia asked as he moved closer to Ryu

"Not necessarily. I fear that more incidents like this may occur…at least I know now that I'll have one more powerful ally on my side no matter where I may be. I believe we'll encounter each other more in the years to come." The Dragon Ninja spoke with a calm and quiet tone, his arms crossed as he looked at her.

"Maybe next time, you can use your real name, Ms. Lew. Irene fits you better."

Her eyes widened. Her cheeks were slightly flustered as she gazed at him, her eyes full of admiration which put a smile on her face.

"Definitely." She simply replied as Ryu took off, forming into a stream of energy.

The energy landed safely on the ground where the elderly man, Muramasa, stood in wait for Ryu. Forming into his physical being, Ryu stopped his movements, his back turned to Muramasa.

"Where are you going? There's a lovely lady waiting for you."

"I have something to look into…but first, I need to pay my respects."

The Dragon Ninja took the Blade of the Archfiend from it's sheath, walking towards the directions that led to the Black Spider Clan's gravesite for their fallen comrades.

One year later….

Peace ran rapids throughout the world since the defeat of the Archfiend. It almost seemed too good to be true. The world was, of course, was not aware that such an event took place. Many ninja are unaware as well, especially the one's that rule the unexplored lands that are ruled by ninja across the continents.

Ryu sat with his now incapacitated father, blinded and injured from the previous battle. Luckily, being a Dragon Ninja himself, Jo Hayabusa would make a full recovery with 2 years worth of healing.

"You summoned me with such urgency father. What could be the matter?" Ryu asked his father, curiosity showing itself from his tone

"You seem eager son…it isn't anything extreme. At least, I'm hoping it stays that way." Jo spoke in a weakened and worried manner

"An old friend contacted me… Does Hiruzen Sarutobi ring any bells? You should remember, you did a number of training there under his watch." Jo coughed immediately afterwards, the injuries still having an effect on him.

"Konohagakure…I haven't been there since my youth and…that incident."

"Yes, yes…. the Nine-Tailed Fox's assault. A tragedy, it was indeed. You were good friends with the man who died that night. It seems his village is in a state of panic." Jo replied to Ryu, catering him to perform a task emotionally with ease

"Father, I am no longer a child. I will travel to Konoha and I'll make my appearance in your place, you don't need to convince me. I'll do it because it is the way of our clan and our duty to see that our allies and comrades are safe." Ryu said in an honorable manner

Jo simply smiled, realizing how much Ryu has grown into a wonderful heir to the Dragon Lineage.

"I'll head out tomorrow." Ryu then got up, attempting to leave

"There is one more thing. Hiruzen told me that you needed three young ninja to accompany you so that they may enter the Chunin exams. The last thing he wishes is for his village to feel like they're under attack and are in need of assistance."

Ryu stopped, thinking about whom he should take.

"Perhaps Sanji is ready to start his training but he is far too young, don't you think?" Ryu asked his father

"You were younger than Sanji when you started training, were you not? Him, Sakura and Denroku shall be a perfect team. You have been training Sanji while Momiji has trained Sakura."

"And Denroku?" Ryu said, feeling a bit worrisome for the children

"Believe it or not, Ayane has given Denroku lessons in the art of ninjutsu. She trained him in Hayate's style of Mugen Tenshin ninjutsu. One last thing…Momiji is going to accompany you."

"Understood father, we'll head out in the morning. I'll be sure to tell everyone the news." Ryu said as he left the room, anticipating what was yet to come.

Within the morning, Ryu, Momiji, Sakura, Sanji and Denroku were set for their journey.

Meanwhile, in Konohagakure…

"What?!" A blonde haired, orange clad boy yelled in shock to his teacher

"These are your forms to apply as Chunin. Be warned…there will be three tests that will put you in the most dangerous situations. They'll push your limits. The choice to apply is entirely your own and once you've applied, there is no turning back." The white haired masked man remarked, showing his seriousness towards them

"If we work together Kakashi, we'll manage to defeat our opponents and become Chunin." The blue clad, black haired member of the massacred Uchiha clan too remarked

Jealous of his cocky attitude, the blonde haired boy named Naruto soon replied to his statement

"But by the end of this, it'll be me who's stronger than you Sasuke!" He yelled out, throwing somewhat of a tantrum

"Narutooooo…" The pink haired fangirl of Sasuke Uchiha and comrade of Team 7, Sakura Haruno, said as she cracked her knuckled in a fist formation

Naruto Uzumaki panicked, freezing in fear but then revolting but sticking his tongue out at Sasuke. Sasuke seemed aggivated by this and grabbed Naruto's collar

"How about you shut up you idiot!" He said with such raw fustration

Smiling and sighing, both happily and annoyed, Kakashi Hatake reflected his team as they reminded him of his youthful days.

Soon the noise was silenced, as four people seemed to be walking by their position. Strangers to most of them, they gave off a vibe that got them looks.

The Dragon Ninja had arrived in The Village Hidden in the Leaves but he left his mask off for the time being to show his friendlier side. The last thing he needed was to convince the village he was there for an assault.

Kakashi's eye widened as he glanced at Ryu himself. He had recognized him from somewhere but he couldn't put his finger on it…yet.

Guiding the children, Ryu approached the Hokage mansion with Momiji at his side.

Naruto saw the group and couldn't help but feel intimidated and yet intrigued.

"I wonder who he is?" He wondered, curiously glancing towards their vicinity.


	2. Chapter 2: Team Hayabusa is set!

Chapter 2: Team Hayabusa is set!

At the Hokage Mansion, a meeting has commenced.

An elderly man in a white robe stood near the back window to his office, staring at a gorgeous view of the village. He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the Dragon Ninja and his disciples.

"I can't thank you enough for aiding us in this time of crisis, Hayabusa-sama." Spoke the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffing a smoke of his pipe whilst keeping eye contact with Ryu

"Sir, you need not be so formal upon my presence. That honor is for my father an-"

"Nonsense!" Hiruzen quickly cut him off without hesitation

"As a man who risked his life to not only stop the remnants of Fiends left in the world but kept us form destruction by slaying Vigoor's Archfiends, you have very much earned the title of Lord. As I hear it, you've earned the rank of Master Ninja, far surpassing that of a Jounin." He complimented soon after

Bowing in respect, Ryu thanked Hiruzen for such an honorable compliment

"Now back to the issue…the Chunin Exams has commenced and yet I feel uneasy. Three Sand Genin have entered and with our recent…problems with The Village Hidden in the Sand. I'm worried an invasion may be inevitable…and with that we cannot risk being suspicious of spying on the Sand ninjas here, including the Kazekage's children." Sarutobi explained in great detail, knowing Ryu would understand immediately.

He very much did so, nodding his head.

"So you're wishing for me to spy on them as if I were another party unaffiliated with you. Smart move but the one flaw is with the children involved along with Momiji it will be easy to spot such a tactic." Ryu replied in a stern tone.

"Hm…you are correct on that Hayabusa but I did take that into consideration…especially seeing as the children are hardly trained as Genin. Which is why we would have to stage and act."

Ryu's eyebrow rose very slightly, intrigued by his plot.

"In order to preserve the nature of our Village…to show we truly wish for peace between villages, it is up to you Hayabusa. The children shall not take action in the Chunin Exams but we have to make sure the enemy is convinced we are. That is where you come in as well as Momiji." Hiruzen continued.

"So we cheat the test as long as everyone here is in on it. When it comes to the forest they shall participate and take out competition with our help to narrow the odds but by the time that the tournament begins they will not participate. This not only gives off the vibe of another threat but deters you from their eyes as their greatest threat…which allows for easier obtainable information as well as trust." Ryu finished off the rest of his plot.

"Exactly…they say you're brighter than most ninja Hayabusa-sama…I was right to pick you and your clan. One last thing I must inquire, Hayabusa-sama. If perchance you are faced with confrontation, I'll allow you to take whatever measures you must but you must never be caught…otherwise I will have no choice but to condemn you as a criminal, at least temporarily."

Nodding Ryu looked at Momiji and signaled her to take the children to sign up for the Chunin Exams.

Nodding back she took the children out of the office, Ryu attempting to follow them before being stopped by Hiruzen's words.

"Before you leave, I just wanted to say…that you're doing this village more than any man can burden to do. You're a hero and if things play out the way I'm hoping they would, this village will know your name." Lord Third praised Ryu through flattery and honoring.

"Though this wouldn't be the first time...not since the incident thirteen years ago. Had you and your father not stopped the horde of fiends that emerged I don't think we would have lasted." He continued his honoring towards Ryu.

Ryu was silent, remembering the faces of the Fiends. They were pure white, molded from their former selves. One even had a swirl for a face and another looked like he was missing half of his body.

He had made most of them retreat while slaying a few that posed a threat.

Returning to his present consciousness he nodded and bowed.

"I am happy to be helping, Hokage-sama. This village as well all ninja villages has meaning to me, out of honor and respect. Yet there is something that bounds me to the people here…and no matter how rotten some may get, I can see the good here."

"Perhaps being a small village that was attacked twice has made you look at this village as one that is pure in its spirit. That said…trust is valuable. Which is why I trust you to help us." Hiruzen finished as Ryu left his office with little to no words.

**Later…**

Ryu walked the streets of Konohagakure, taking a gander at all of the landmarks and architecture that swarmed with productive and relatively happy villagers. A soft smile was surfaced on his face, which does not happen very often.

He then stopped, looking back slightly with his eyes. He was being watched and he knew it.

"I wonder who he is…he looks different for a ninja." Sakura said whilst glancing over his rather sharp features.

"He could very well be a spy, why else would he bring children and converse with the Hokage? He may very well be plotting an attack. We can't risk it." Sasuke assumed, glaring down at Ryu and noticing that his bag carried a sword in it.

"Hey Sasuke? Aren't you being a bit too assuming? There are tons of ninja here, especially that scary looking one. He looks harmless." Naruto said in fear of getting attacked.

Ryu then proceeded to walk into the forest, playing as if he was unaware of being followed he was being followed. Team 7 soon took notice after their discussion, following him very quietly.

Soon Ryu seemed to be lost. Standing in the middle of the forest, the Dragon Ninja sat down as if he were meditating. He secretly kept his Dragon Sword close to him while distracting the young ninjas by putting on his traditional helmet.

Sasuke store, seeing massive amounts of, what looked to be, chakra flowing within him at a rapid pace. This worried him but he remembered that he was of the fallen Uchiha Clan and that his Sharingan was unmatched and unparalleled.

"I'm going on ahead, follow my lead." Sasuke said upon using a body flicker technique to position himself.

Ryu, taking a deep breath, unhinged his Dragon Sword from his sheath but only slightly. He anticipated Sasuke's movements before Sasuke made any decisions.

Sasuke, armed and ready, had his Sharingan activated. He quickly threw shuriken while quickly performing handsigns.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled out.

Sasuke's assault headed straight for Ryu's vicinity, almost dead aim onto him. The fire collided with the shuriken as the fireball hit and burnt the area vastly and violently.

Sasuke and the two others came out of hiding to see the result of Sasuke's quick assault.

"Hama Reppujin no Jutsu!" The Dragon Ninja shouted as a vast amount of wind energy swarmed his body and dissipated the flames, causing the shuriken to fall.

The aura and surrounding of wind ceased as Ryu drew his sword, attacking Sasuke head on. He did not aim to kill him, as he was only a child, but he aimed at roughing him up a bit incase he were apart of the enemy's plot in an invasion.

Colliding his sword with Sasuke's kunai, Ryu ducked and swept Sasuke only to have Sasuke jump back whilst doing a backwards flip. Ryu took the opportunity to jump at Sasuke, speeding up leaving afterimages of his movements.

"He's fast!" Sasuke shouted as he blocked Ryu's incoming attack, slashing at him while throwing in a few moves to throw off his movements. Ryu did not falter and soon threw a hard punch at Sasuke's face, causing him to rapidly fall and crash into the ground.

Naruto, angered by this, attempted to attack the Dragoon Ninja by forming Shadow Clones.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" About eight Shadow Clones formed upon performing the technique.

"Mess with my friend…you bastard!" Naruto shouted as they made their way towards Hayabusa's position.

Ryu slashed at the first clone, causing it to poof away into a cloud of smoke. Immediately afterwards, he dashed to the next one. Cutting him upwards and jumping over him, he then grabbed the one behind planning to attack and threw him upon flipping over him and landing. The clone hit two more clones as all three of them vanished.

Three more remained, casting an angered look.

"Bastard…damn you!" Naruto spoke in an upset manner as the three charged at him but were ultimately stopped by Ryu's shuriken.

Naruto held a comical surprised face while Sakura and Sasuke had the opposite, a disappointed and embarrassed one.

"Idiot! He's going to kill us now!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto as he turned to see Ryu already near him and ready to attack.

Closing his eyes, all he could hear was steel clashing against one another.

"Huh…?" Naruto wondered, opening his eyes slowly only to see the silhouettes of Kakashi and Ryu fighting at a very, very, fast pace. They almost seemed to be moving at the speed of lightning.

The fight went on for several minutes, clashing blades one after the other, each move causing sparks to fly.

"Get him Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto rooted as help had arrived in the form of Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi.

"Huh? What's going on?!" Naruto said, worried that there was a situation.

"We heard rumbling and clashing. We had to see what the problem was." Asuma explained to Naruto.

"Kakashi seems to be handling him on his own but he needs out help."

Before they could finish they appeared, seemingly form thin air, clashing against one another ultimately before Kakashi's fatigue had taken affect. Asuma soon stepped in to clash against Ryu for him.

Ryu planned to assault but stopped when he noticed the Leaf logo on all of their headbands. He had thought he had spotted it on Sasuke and Naruto previously but didn't want to take chances just yet. He did, however, realize that they were not a threat in the end.

"Hold on! I'm not your enemy!" He said jumping back and putting away his sword.

Kakashi hid his Sharingan, panting heavily.

'So that's how he kept up…the Uchiha's eye has no limits…' Ryu thought to himself, curious to test his abilities against such a unique trait.

"Then why did you attack Genin ninja! Have you no shame?! No heart whatsoever?!" Kurenai yelled at Ryu, seemingly disgusted with his actions.

Ryu took off his mask, revealing his face to the Konoha ninja to show he was friendly.

"I'm on an important mission here under the orders of Hiruzen Sarutobi." Ryu explained, being very straightforward.

They all looked rather shocked, confused on why he still fought Genin.

"I was being followed by these three…I was informed about children who may be a threat entering the Chunin Exams. I'm guessing Hiruzen didn't tell you yet."

Flabbergasted, Guy seemed infatuated with Ryu and yet angered by Ryu's word. He took insult to Ryu's accusations of misinformation.

"How dare you! I'll give you something to think about, lair!" Guy performed and flying kick towards Ryu only to be flung off like an annoying fly simply by on grab gesture using one arm.

Guy comically fell down, looking dazed and confused.

"If that's the case, then tell us your situation and mission. As well as your name." Kakashi said, looking up at him as he got up.

"My name is Ryu Hayabusa of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan. I have traveled a long distance to come and aid your village at this point and time. I apologize…I wasn't aiming to harm them even if the were the enemy. I just needed to make sure. I'm quite fond of young ninja." Ryu said, his serious face gone replaced with a sweeter looking and neutral one.

Kurenai's cheeks lit up slightly, feeling embarrassed for snapping at him.

Asuma simply raised an eyebrow, almost looking as neutral as Ryu.

Kakashi held a dark look for moment only to have him turn back to his normal casual self.

"That's all you had to say! I thought I recognized you!" Kakashi said in excitement, everyone falling over form the sheer shock of his reaction.

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather discuss this mission privately without…your disciples." Ryu requested of Kakashi.

"You're in luck, We were all about to meet like usual at this place we go to. You're more than free to join us, Hayabusa-sama." Kakashi said, bowing slightly in respect.

Ryu simply smiled, nodding as he turned to the rest of Team 7.

"I apologize for attacking you three." He said couching before them all, noticing Sasuke's injury.

"Hold still." Ryu spoke softly to him.

"Buzz off! As if I need help! You're not a medical ninja anyways! How could you po-" He was cut off by an aura of blue energy forming into a clear energy field, surrounding the wound itself.

He store in amazement at the beauty if it, as did everyone else.

The energy seemed to threading towards the edges and restoring the cellular structure as well as any damaged muscle and tissue and rapidly as well.

"Reimyou no Jutsu…" Ryu spoke softly as it completely healed Sasuke of his wounds.

He blinked, left speechless as well as the rest of the group surrounding them.

"There. All better." He kindly spoke as he stood back up.

"H-Hey! How did you do that?! I wanna learn that!" Naruto complained, Sakura and Sasuke annoyed by it very much.

Ryu watched as they began to argue and fight.

Kakashi put his hand on his shoulder.

"Leave them be, they'll be fine. Quick, let's get to the bar before heir special is over." Kakashi said as he hurried the Dragon Ninja away form his team.

Soon after, Ryu, Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai and Asuma were sitting at a table, drinks beside them. They seemed quiet at first due to Ryu's presence until Kakashi broke the silence

.

"Tell us, Hayabusa-sama-".

"Call me Ryu, Ryu's fine." He said watching as he spun his drink around very slightly.

"Arlight Ryu, tell us…what is your mission?" Kakashi continued his question.

"Hiruzen is worried the Sand may be plotting against Konoha and to avoid any conflict while still making sure, he has asked me to spy while appearing as a neutral party. A diversion and an insurgent." Ryu said looking at the other jounin.

"So, you're the punching bag for us then?" Asuma said very bluntly.

"You could say that, it's been awhile since I've been back here."

"Right, right! I knew I remembered you, you were the show off we all got jealous of!" Kakashi said, also very bluntly.

"Guess so." Ryu said, sipping himself some water.

"Don't you drink at all?" Kurenai asked since they all had a cup of light sake.

"I don't drink. I'm always in need of focusing, especially now." Ryu rpelied, making Kurenai look at him funny.

"Well then…I guess you should tell us more about yourself. We don't want to be strangers now." Kurenai said, smiling nervously as she didn't really know how to talk to a man of his demeanor.

"I'm sorry if I'm quiet…I just have a lot on my mind and it's weighing me down. My fight with Kakashi was sloppy because of such but you shouldn't be nervous around me. I'm happy to talk about myself. Ask me anything you'd like to know." Ryu said, happily smiling at Kurenai and the rest.

"Well..okay then! Tell us your age!" She asked next, looking rather interested suddenly.

"Let's see…" Ryu sat and thought about it.

"He looks to be in his late twenties, by my guess." Asuma said, chuckling softly.

"Actually, I turned 22 this year."

Everyone had spat out their drinks, shocked to find out that Ryu was the youngest man they've ever acquainted with in such a manner.

"No way?!" Guy said, jealous of his youthfulness.

"You must be using some sort of technique, there's no way you can be so young and be such an experienced warrior!" Kurenai said, leaning over the table to get a closer look at his complexion.

Ryu seemed uncomfortable and looked down mildly annoyed.

"I've fought and battled man dangerous creatures. Just last year I fought the Archfiend Va-' His eyes widened, silencing his words.

"Va-what?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Nothing…I can't speak of it." Ryu replied back and without hesitation.

"Don't bother him about it, we all have secrets we must keep as ninja. Next question…are those doujutsu you have, Hayabusa-san?" Kurenai proceeded to make Ryu feel less pressured.

"Those are some of the most dazzling doujutsu I've ever seen." Asuma said, lighting up another cigarette.

"They're my natural color. Dragon Ninja of my lineage are born with eyes like this, usually. It can skip over however. My father does not have green eyes but that doesn't matter anymore. He went blind after last year due to a raid in my village." Ryu said finishing off his drink.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You have my sympathies." Kakashi said, showing concern.

"It wasn't as bad as the incident several months before it which orphaned a lot of children in the Hayabusa village. We've tried to live peacefully but its one incident after another. Luckily, my original caretaker, Omitsu, was kind enough to nurture those children along my student Momiji and myself."

"It must be hard, no harder than we've all had it." Asuma spoke out, showing his concerns too.

"But the fact you remain so strong shows that your spirit is unbreakable! That's a rival I can count on, that's why Kakashi is my rival forever!" Guy added, showing much enthusiasm.

"The hardest part wasn't just the death of my clansmen nor myself. It was my inability to see past the one who was the cause of it all and in the end…my best friend sacrificed her life, doing her duty. She was a Shrine Maiden and a very sweet woman. Sister to my student Momiji." He said, his hair covering his eyes as if to hide how he flt but in reality he showed no sign of pain.

Kurenai couldn't help but tear up slightly, wiping off her tears.

"That's…horrible. I'm so sorry Ryu." She comforted him.

"Don't be. I pray to her grave every time I am in the village." Ryu said as he took a deep breath, smiling afterwards.

"More like every minute, he does it more than me and she was my sister!" Spoke a soothing voice that entered the bar.

"Ryu-sama, I found you! I just wanted to let you know that the children are signed up and they're ready to help however they must!" She said, smiling and showing enthusiasm.

"Glad to hear it Momiji. Meet our newfound comrades."

She saw them, a slight blush over her cheeks form being surprised slightly.

"Hello! Sorry, that was so rude of me!" She said, showing guilt for her lack of respect.

"Momiji, it's alright. Come, sit with us." He said, patting on the seat next to him.

Meanwhile, the sand ninja were conversing to each other privately along with Gaara and his siblings there with them..

"Seems we have new intel. We may have a new foe…one who outweighs our current target. It is your jobs to dispose of him if he does anything suspicious." A Sand jounin spoke to a few of their elite assassins who nodded, flickering away.

"As for you three…you are to do as planned and make no mistakes."

"Fine by me…but don't hassle me. Otherwise, I'll kill you." Gaara said in a brutal, cold manner as he walked away from the rest, exiting the rooftop of their residence in the Leaf.

* * *

><p>Hey guys! Glad to be back and writing again! :D I'm happy to see where this is going and can only hope it's any good .<p>

List of jutsu and ninpo used in this chapter:

_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)_

_Hama Reppujin no Jutsu (Art of the Wind Blades)_

_Reimyou no Jutsu (Art of Spirit Life)_


	3. Chapter 3: Training for the Chunin Exams

Chapter 3: Training for the Chunin Exams!

Momiji sat beside her sensei, Ryu, getting acquainted with their newfound friends while sharing stories of some of their journeys.

Meanwhile…

"Do you think Ryu-sama will be here soon? What about Momiji-san?" The little black haired girl, Sakura, spoke to her fellow friends.

"They told us to practice while we wait for them, why don't we start? Ryu will want to train with us more if we showed him and Momiji-san how good we've become!" Spoke the eccentric brown haired child, Sanji, said with enthusiasm as he held together handsigns.

"Let's practice Ninpo! That'll be a good first practice!" He said while charging up energy

Denroku looked surprised and yet looked very scared at the same time, watching as Sanji began to speak out words to initiate the technique.

Cutting back to Ryu and Momiji along with the Konoha team leaders, Momiji was laughing due to an embarrassing story she told of when she was little.

"Ryu was mad at me for two whole weeks, so much he wouldn't even talk to me! It took my older sister to slap some sense into him." She said as she laughed some more at the story.

Ryu had his arms crossed, remembering how much Kureha's slapping hurt.

"Yes, yes…even to this day I can feel her slap stinging my cheek. But I got my revenge alright." He said with a smirk.

"Oh? Care to tell me what that was?" Guy asked, seemingly tipsy from the sake.

"Simple, I became her master and now she is under my wing. Superiority makes her jealous. She even got jealous when Kureha and I spent time with each other without her. It took dumplings to calm her down." Ryu said, smiling at the fond memories he held in his heart.

"Yeah…" Momiji sighed as her demeanor changed from happy to a somewhat saddened look, Ryu looking the same but showing much less in his facial expression.

"Oh no! I need to go and train with the children! S-Sorry, Ryu-sensei!" He said as she rushed out of the bar.

Blinked, the rest of the group looked at Ryu who was even flabbergasted by her sudden exit.

"So tell me Ryu, is she single?" Kakashi asked casually, only to be punched by Ryu effortlessly.

Kakashi flew and rammed into another table, flipping it over while having a comical dazed look.

"E-Ehehehe…. I'll take that as a no…" Kakashi said as he stood up, dusting himself off of the foods and drinks.

Sitting down, Ryu decided to change the subject entirely towards them.

"Anyways, I take it your teams are entering the Chunin Exams as well?" Ryu asked, placing his elbows and arms on the table.

"Yes. My team is consistent of Hinata Hyuga, a sweet, gentle girl with a lot of potential thanks to her Byukugan and Hyuga training. Kiba Inuzuka, a rough, crazy and energetic dog lover who is very fast. Shino Aburame is the last of my group, a unique ninja with techniques that involve bug. Very quiet and self preserved ninja. Nothing fazes him so far." Kurenai replied, smiling by the thought of her team.

"Mine are Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji. Their parents were the original Ino-Shika-Cho team of the same fame. So far, one is calculating, smart but lazy, one's a self-centered but caring girl with a deep care for her friends. The last is a very…very sensitive, hungry and powerful ninja with a large belly as well as a large heart." Asuma continued from Kurenai's explanation of her team.

"Mine are youthful! Neji Hyuga, cousin to the heiress Hinata, is ever lasting and determined but a bit full of himself. Tenten is an excellent weapons master, seizing any weapon and using it to it's full potential! Rock Lee…he….he…" Guy said, shadows covering his eyes.

Ryu's own eyes widened in shock to how he seemed to be acting about his third student. Could he have betrayed their team and gone rogue? Guy seemed to be broken up by the mere thought of him, this 'Rock Lee'.

"Rock Lee…is…MY STAR PUPIL!" Guy said, suddenly switching to a proud demeanor, crying while he screamed out Lee's name in joy.

Ryu had an annoyed look but remained calm and quiet towards Guy's behavior.

"And you've already met mine, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. They're….a bit of a hassle but when it involves teamwork…they excel more than any ninja team I've ever seen." Kakashi said, looking adamant in his proud view of his team.

"I noticed there have been no other Uchiha in the Academy. Hiruzen wasn't lying when he said the clan was wiped out. What happened?" Ryu asked, looking to see everyone's rather tragic look.

"Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, killed them all. He left only Sasuke alive on that fateful night." Kakashi said, looking directly at Ryu.

"I noticed you too had Sharingan. You aren't Uchiha are you, since you're still alive?" Ryu continued in a blunt manner.

"No. I got mine…form a friend. He died before the massacre could have ever happened. He gave me this as a present for becoming a jounin." Kakashi said, unfazed by Ryu's words.

"I see…I didn't mean to-" He was then cut off by Kakashi's hand placed on his shoulders.

"It's ok. I was happy to answer. It honors my friend when people ask me."

Ryu smiled, nodding as he continued his conversation.

"It's no wonder you kept up with me. That Sharingan helped you notice my movements before they ever happened, correct?"

"Actually, this was the first time I was thrown off. The only other person to do that to me was Guy here when he isn't holing back. You're very fast." Kakashi admitted, looking intrigued as if he wanted to try and surpass Ryu.

"I've been training since I was very young. Like I said, I've been here before. Much of my training came from here with the help of my caretakers of course. To be honest it's been awhile since I've returned. Last time I was here it was during the incident with the Nine-Tailed Fox." Ryu said, looking back at the group.

"I knew I remembered you…and I was right. You were said to have stopped an invasion of Fiends following the attack by the demon fox. We all were so young then but you…you were much younger, weren't you?" Asuma said, looking closer at Ryu to confirm he was indeed what he remembered.

"I had turned 10 actually. My father was a huge help as well. A shame we could never follow up on who or what caused those fiends to be summoned."

"Well they had 13 years to attack, the probably got scared and ran off." Asuma said with a soft and cocky cackle.

"No…there's something else to it all. Whatever it is, it will come back. I'm going to be ready when that happens." Ryu said in a very serious tone, the rest of the jounin looking at him in admiration for his honorable demeanor.

"Maybe we can help if the chance comes. If it does, we'll be right by your side." Kakashi said with a smile, showing his compassion for his new comrade.

**Back at the Training Grounds.**

"Sorry I'm late guys! I ran into Ryu-sama and I-" Her speech had silenced as her eyes widened in fear and concern.

The children were injured and hurt. They weren't dead luckily but the were incapacitated for the time being. Standing before them was a red haired boy, holding a gorge on his back, along with a hooded boy with markings on his face and a blonde haired girl with a large fan.

The two, besides the red head, turned to see her disgusted by their actions.

"W-What did you do to them?!" Momiji said as she took out her Naginata in preparation

"…We're snuffing out the competition…. no matter what that means." Gaara spoke out, his eyes bloodlusted and crazed as he trembled.

"We'll sacrifice whatever is deemed worthy of a sacrifice…. which you will be the first of!"

Gaara's sand charged towards her at a rapidly fast pace.

Creating hand gestures partnered with hand signs, Momiji began to speak a Buddhist prayer as a seemingly spiritual shield former around her, blocking the sand from entering and grabbing her.

Gaara instead took this as an opportunity to try and attack the others, aiming to kill them.

"Gurenfu no Jutsu!" Momiji yelled out as the leaves floating around her formed into fireballs, streaming the fire to block and burn off the sand as well as burn Gaara.

Seeing it coming, Temari took out her fan and thrust the air towards the fire, extinguishing it.

Momiji ultimately saved Sanji, Sakura and Denroku but saw Gaara was trying to do the same thing again. Only to have several kunai, with flowers at the end of them, thrown at him at fast speeds.

Gaara's sand blocked said kunai but upon impact they immediately exploded into a purple flame.

"GAH!" Gaara said as he fell over, cringing as the impact managed to harm him slightly.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled out as her and Kankuro quickly grabbed a hold of him, Gaara's sand seeping back into his gorge, as they retreated from the Training Grounds.

A hooded ninja jumped off form the trees, landing near the children.

"Ayane-san…" Momiji said as he protective shield dissipated, running to see if the kids were safe.

"Hayate had heard of Ryu's mission thanks to Kasumi. He sent me as a visitor from the Mugen Tenshin Clan to watch over and aid him however I must." Ayane said helping up Denroku.

"A-Ayane-kun…?!" Denroku said, seeing as her breasts were close to his face.

Hw blushed and jumped out of her grip, dusting himself off.

"I-I'm okay! They didn't hurt me that bad! But….Sanji…"

Momiji gasped loud, seeing not only did Sanji have a deep cut in his side but his arm was crushed.

'Oh no…no, no, no Sanji…" Momiji expressed her shock, getting out the Eye of the Dragon.

"Sanji please…please Sanji stay with me…" She said as tear poured out of her eyes.

Ayane looked in concern and in despair. She hated to see a young ninja harmed.

Momiji used the Eye to try and heal his arm as best as she could. Its power has been in use for quite some time as Jo Hayabusa has been in need of it. It only managed to heal some of the fractures but the overall position and tearing of the tissue and muscle seemed beyond repair at this point.

Momiji was softly sobbing. She failed her students and she failed her master. She was burdened with grief and anger. Her sobs got louder before a hand touched her head. Opening her teary eyes, she saw is was Ryu who was beside her, crouched to see the damage.

"It's ok Momiji….. he can be healed. Unfortunately, it will take very long to heal so h must go back home…only problem is we run the risk of being attacked." Ryu explained, his eyes weighed down with the guilt of being away.

"He can go to our hospital. We may not have the absolute best Medical Ninja but if we keep him there, he should be able to participate in the Chunin Exams. We allow the standard format, the written test, to be skipped if an injury has occurred as long as he teammates pass in his place." Kakashi said, standing behind them along with Guy, Asuma and Kurenai.

"Thank you. Sanji… wake up. You're gonna be okay." Ryu said as he picked him up.

"Ryu…sensei….I'm sorry I…I failed." He weakly spoke, seemingly disappointed with himself.

"Hush. You did your best and you're alive. That's all that matters." Ryu replied with care, using a bit of his healing ninpo to heal the gash on his side.

"Hurry, he needs to get to the hospital."

With that, everyone rushed off to the hospital with Sanji in Ryu's arms.

"So, what did you get out of them?" Baki, the sand jounin commander of the Sand Siblings, asked Gaara directly.

"They came from the Hayabusa Ninja Village for the Chunin Exams and that their team leader, Ryu, has a special mission here." Gaara spoke while having his arms crossed.

"I see. What kind of mission is it?" He asked curiously.

"…they didn't say since they passed out the moment I broke the brown haired one's arm. Before we could dispose of them, their other teacher arrived and stopped us along with another spy intervening." Gaara clenched his palm on his arm, grudgingly angered by how she managed to harm him.

"We got away with enough information. That's more than enou-" Temari tried to convince Baki of their success but was cut off.

"Silence! I will be the judge of that and you do well to remember that…but it was a success, so we know who to look out for." Baki said, smiling as he looked at Gaara.

"You did well but remember your position here. You are our key to success. Keep that in mind always." He said as he looked down at Gaara.

Gaara simply walked off without saying anything, giving Baki a death glare.

"Once everything is set in motion…the invasion can begin…." Bak thought to himself, a sinister look on his face.

* * *

><p>Hey everyone! :D Back with another chapter! Hope you all like the series so far! I'm hoping that nothing seems rushed or out of place. I'm doing my absolute best to keep the quality of fun and seriousness as well as trying my best to write it out well.<p>

Ninpo and Jutsu used in this chapter:

Gurenfu no Jutsu (The Art of the Crimson Lotus)


	4. Chapter 4: Healing

Chapter 4: Healing

Konohagakure Hospital. A hospital dedicated to the care and healing of ninja no matter where they come from. Said to have some of the best Medical Ninja to date.

Taking matters into his own hands, Ryu saw to it that Sanji got to Konoha Medical personally by carrying him. The rest, Momiji, Sakura and Denroku, followed them in worry that Sanji may be fatally wounded.

As time passes, Ryu waited outside of the room whilst leaning against a wall, his arms crossed.

Momiji sat on the waiting bench, her hands held together, her eyes still teary but less than before. Now was not the time to mourn. She had her hopes that Sanji would turn out okay. The other two children sitting beside her as they waited as well.

Soon enough, Sanji had visitors from an unlikely group. Kakashi and his team had arrived to see if everything turned out all right. Plus, Team 7 may be able to identify the attackers.

"Yo. Sorry we didn't come earlier. I was having a discussion with my team. They may know who could have done such a horrible thing to that child." Kakashi said as he approached Ryu.

Ryu, unfolding his arms, turned his attention to Kakashi then his team.

"Tell me everything you know." A firm reply was given to the young team.

"All we know is that…they're from the Sand Village. They also seem to be siblings. As far as that goes, the only other thing is that, they're only here to enter the Chunin Exams. Maybe they saw them as competition they needed to eradicate." Sasuke replied back with the same firmness in his tone as Ryu had given to them.

"…If that's the case, they may have gotten onto us. They might have gotten information out of Sanji." Ryu thought to himself only to be broken of his focus due to the nurse exiting the room.

"Good news and bad news…" She spoke calmly to the group.

"The good news is, he'll be alright but…the bad news is…we found traces of torn tissue in his leg as well as his arms. The wound he received seemed to have been healed but the damage did not stray. He may never be able to be a ninja after this injury." She continued, saddened to be the bearer of bad news.

Momiji was broken, her eyes widened, tearing and her eyes almost seemingly lifeless.

Ryu too was shocked by the nurse's words, angered as he approached her.

"What do you mean..?!" Ryu angrily asked the Medical Ninja.

"Sir, he is incredibly injured! Do you really expect him to carry out missions in his condition?! I did my best but you need to calm yourself/" The nurse said with a direct tone but with a calm and collected head.

"You may see him now."

Ryu nodded, slowly calming himself as he turned to see Momiji burdened with guilt and despair.

"Momiji….it's okay. You did your best…without your help he would have been dead along with Sakura and Denroku. You saved him and that's all I can ever ask of you." Ryu comforted her, going towards her to try and show her any sign of affection.

She merely stood up, shadows covering her eyes along with her bangs.

"No…Ryu-sensei….I failed. I…I need some time to myself. I'll be back to visit him after you guys are done." She spoke quietly as she turned around, walking off to recollect her thoughts and emotions.

Sighing, Ryu turned to Kakashi and nodded.

"Okay, you three stay out here with the other kids. We'll be out shortly." Kakashi ordered his team as he turned to walk into the room with Ryu.

Momiji was sitting outside of the hospital, dwelling on her failure. She had lost someone very dear to her in the past. Her sister, Kureha, gave her life to protect everyone in the village and even Ryu did the same while risking his life several times over.

"I'm too…weak…. I couldn't even protect him. I'm no Shrine Maiden…I'm not even qualified to be a ninja let alone be Ryu's student." She said as she covered her face, quietly sobbing.

"You can't always protect everything and everyone. Being a ninja doesn't mean to be flawless and protect everyone without mistake." Said a familiar voice as he sat down beside her.

She gasped slightly, looking to see Kakashi sitting next to her with a caring look.

"W-What are you-"

"This is a Shadow Clone. I made it so I could come talk to you while helping Ryu. It sounded like you needed it right now." He spoke calmly to her.

"I see…well, it's not easy for me to accept such a thing…I doubt you would understand. I have expectations to keep up with. Those children look up to me with such praise and I let them get hurt!" She said as she began to tear up.

"Actually, I can understand that pain perfectly. As ninja, yes it's important to keep up with whatever expectations are bestowed upon us but….it's being a ninja isn't about following those expectations. It's about doing the right thing and doing what you can to protecting those that you care for by any means. Today, I saw exactly that in your actions." Kakashi said as he removed his headband from his eye.

"You probably think I'm a great ninja from how everyone talk about me…but the truth is I'm just as much of a failure. This eye is a symbol of courage, power and honor to those who talk great about me but in reality it's nothing more than a reminder of my greatest failure." He said with a smile, showing he had accepted things how they were.

Her eyes, while still teary, held a sudden look of realization and surprise. She saw how sweetly he smiled at her, which gave her a small smile of her own. Wiping her tears, she sniffled and laughed softly.

"T-Thank you…thank you so much…I feel better now." Momiji gladly thanked Kakashi as she gave him a sweet look of gratitude.

"Hey, it's no big deal. As ninja we bear the burden of failing even at our most powerful…but it's from those mistakes that we can truly strive forward. My friend died while giving me this eye and, as much as it does remind me of my failure, it inspires me to see the world of ninja grow into a peaceful place. For him, I made a promise to live and protect what meant the world to him. Though I've failed twice, I haven't given up. Neither should you." Kakashi said to Momiji, convincing her to snap out of her spiraling depressive state.

"Thank you Kakashi-kun. It meant a lot to me…" She said as she suddenly gave him a tight hug.

Not knowing her own strength, Kakashi's clone struggled to breath before exploding into a cloud of smoke, which dissipated.

Blinking, she looked everywhere only to realize his clone was gone.

"Clones always drain me when I use this eye…" Kakashi said whilst sweating.

"So…you told them everything?" Ryu asked Sanji who was wide awake and in bandages.

"Yes…I did. I…I'm sorry Ryu-sama. I never meant to-" Ryu cut him off by placing his hand over his head.

"You only did it to protect your friends, you've done nothing wrong. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, we cannot have you or your friends participate in the Chunin Exams. We've decided that by doing that, we not only endanger you but it'll draw too much suspicion and endanger everyone. We would send you home but…right now, you need to stay here." Ryu said, smiling kindly to Sanji.

"As for your injuries, we had gotten bad news…" Kakashi said to Sanji following up on Ryu's comment.

Time had passed as Momiji returned to the inside of the hospital, sitting beside the rest of the children.

Soon enough, the door opened as they all saw Sanji walking out in casts.

"Hey guys!" Sanji spoke with enthusiasm.

Sakura and Denroku ran toward the injured Hayabusa ninja.

"You're all better now?!" Sakura said, seemingly excited.

"No Sakura…I'm not. Not yet at least! I'll make a good recovery, I promise you." He said, holding a superior demeanor.

Sasuke was rather surprised at his reaction to the bad news.

"Hey, hey! She has the same name as you Sakura-chan!" Naruto said to Sakura, teasing her about it.

"Hmph, I'm just as cute too! I'll admit though…seeing that face really does light up my spirit. He took such an incredible tragedy and turned it into an opportunity." Sakura said as she admired Sanji's personality.

"Yeah! Because no one should give up on their dreams!" Naruto said as he went over to Sanji.

"Right on kid! You got the spirit!" Naruto said with a slight chuckle and a happy grin.

Sanji gazed at him as if his spirits had been raised, grinning and chuckling along with him.

"Great, now there's two of them…" Sasuke said in annoyance.

"What did you say?!" Both Naruto and Sanji said in pure frustration.

Sasuke simply huffed as if he considered himself superior to them.

Kakashi looked at them as a sweat drop formed on his head.

"Sanji, enough. You need to rest now. We'll figure something out I promise you." Ryu said, giving him a soft smile and a nod.

A day had passed and the Chunin Exams were close to beginning.

"We cannot enter the Chunin Exams. I don't have any other options Lord Third. As for the Sand children…for now we leave them be, until the second portion of the exam." Ryu spoke with the Third Hokage, frustrated on how to finish the mission.

"I agree. We'll think of the momentarily and yes…with the boy's injuries we can't run the risk of their endangerment. I would have taken drastic measures but, being form another village, I simply can't put you and your people through such a thing." Hiruzen said in a solemn manner.

"What would that be?" Ryu asked out of curiosity.

"Making you infiltrate them at all costs…but it runs the risk of branding you as a criminal to this land. You're deserving of more than such a selfish request. So instead my alternative is this. You will become a special guest as a spectator. That way you can appear to be here on your own terms and not on ours. The Sand only knows of the Hayabusa clan but not of the village. They know nothing about our ties."

"This could work but we still need to have me on the inside during the second portion of the exams." Ryu inquired to Hiruzen.

"Well I thought that out easily. You'll be paired up with Anko Mitarashi and her team. You'll be able to keep an eye on the Sand ninja and any other suspicious ones." Replied back to Ryu.

"Anko is the name? I need to speak with this person immediately." Ryu said before he realized someone was behind him.

"That'd be me, Mr. Hayabusa~" Spoke a rather flirtatious female voice.

Ryu swiftly managed to take the kunai she held against him and toss it towards the wall.

"Ryu, meet Anko. She's a…playful type. Don't take anything she tries personally." Hiruzen stressed the last very much.

"Wanna speak with me? Meet me on the Training Grounds. I don't trust speaking aloud with possible insurgents roaming around." Anko said as she flickered off and away.

Ryu too did the same thing, disappearing from Lord Third's office, Hiruzen taking a puff of smoke form his pipe as he store out the window.

The two ninja met up on the Training Grounds, Anko standing across from where he soon appeared on.

"So, what do you wanna talk to me about?" Anko asked, grinning as she placed her hand on her hip.

"Well, I am to be paired up with you. I nee-" He was suddenly cut off.

"Wait. Before you do, take off the mask." Anko requested of Ryu.

"Why? What purpose does it serve?"

"Just take it off dammit! I need to see your face to be able to trus-" She suddenly stopped as he took off his helmet, revealing his youthful face.

Her cheeks were red; her face was comical and a bit of blood was seeping from her nose.

"KYA!~ I knew you were handsome! I just had to see it for myself!~" She said as she looked absolutely perverted in the face.

Ryu shuddered, his face having a funny annoyed look. He then cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, I need to discuss the matters which revolve around my mission." Ryu continued from where he was cut off.

Anko, coming up against him, placed her hand on his chest.

"Go on~ I'm listening~" She said playfully.

"Anyways…we need to keep a lookout on suspicious ninja. I assume Hiruzen told you mostly about the situation." Ryu said, ignoring Anko's signals to focus on the mission at hand.

Taking notice of it, she embarrassingly removed herself from Ryu's body and rubbed the back of her head.

"Ah, yes. Of course! Well…for you, I'll make an exception and watch really hard. As long as you promise that we can spar any time. I hear you're a Master Ninja. That's very impressive for someone as young as you. Show me a few of those moves when you can and we got a deal!" She said giving him a thumb up and a wink, grinning happily just as Naruto does.

"Thank you. As for the sparring, I can do that on my off time." He said smiling softly.

"All I can say to you is, I won't hold back when we do spar." His smile became a confident smirk as he walked away.

While doing so, he formed a single handsign, which made leaves form around him and slowly make him vanish.

As the day progressed, the Chunin Exams had already begun in it's first phases. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura managed to pass the test but not without it's fair share of stress inducing tricks.

Sasuke quickly figured out that it was a test to see how easily someone could gather information from someone else without getting caught. Sakura herself managed to use what she learned to get by and as for Naruto…. he managed to pass by doing what he usually does. He stated even if he failed he's still find a way to become Hokage, no matter what it took. He left his sheet blank but was passed due to how determined he was. Ibiki was even surprised himself.

Soon after, the next phase began. They had to enter the Forest of Death. The task was to get both Heaven and Earth scrolls to the finishing area with all of their team members intact.

Anko was the one who gave them the instructions about the second phase. Naruto, of course, showed off his confidence in which caused Anko to cut his cheek with her kunai. Scaring him by saying how boys like him are the first to die in the Forest. She then reacted to a strange looking man who gave her back her kunai via his very long tongue.

After some time passed, Anko was busy waiting for Ryu. Meanwhile another ninja had approached her.

"Anko-san, we need you to come look at something. It's something very…strange."

"Hm? What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

They took her to see three ninja, identified as three Grass Ninja, who all were found dead along with their faces gone.

"Their faces have been taken from them…it can't be…him…" She said thinking to herself as she felt her curse mark.

"I found these three and alerted the ninja to alarmed you. I have a bad feeling about this…" Ryu spoke as she turned to find him dressed much differently than usual.

He was wearing a unique outfit to help him blend in without getting caught easily. He wore his mask and scarf as well as his body armor but his pants seemed more traditional for a shinobi. He didn't have his helmet on which showed off his hair and eyes much more casually. His gauntlets remained on as well.

"Sorry I'm late." He said with a serious look on his face.

Anko had that same expression like she did yesterday, except with an unexpected annoyed face.

"A-Ahem! Yes, we should go and quick. You two, alert ANBU right away." She commanded the other two ninja who nodded and left off.

"Ryu…I fear that my old master might be here. I don't know why but this is bad news if he is. He became a rogue ninja after being caught experimenting on our fellow ninja. If he gets ahold of any of these kids he might…-" Anko said in a frantic state.

"Anko, it'll be alright. We won't let that happen. Calm yourself and we'll head out." He said putting his hand out.

Seeing his gesture, Anko nodded and looked confident.

"Fine but after this I want you to take me out for Dango!" She soon ordered him out of excitement as well as arrogance, coming off as commanding while being sweet about it.

"Sounds like a plan." Ryu said as he took off into the forest with Anko.

What awaited would soon make sense to Ryu in his quest to foil the Sand ninja's plot…but what they'll find shall be unexpected.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hey everyone!~ Back with another chapter! Man this is going better than I imagined, in terms of writing this. Of course I'm running the risk of rushing things and I'm always worried about that v-v but the creativity has been flowing so much that I can't help but write the next chapter as soon as I can! So I hope you're all liking this series so far and I hope the changes fit well into the story ;-;<em>**

**_Also, Ryu's second outfit is the Spirit of the fighter outfit from Ninja Gaiden 3 as well as DOA5 with added chest armor XD so it'd make sense and Ryu wouldn't get injured so easily. That's not to say it can't and won;t come off either~ 3 Anyways! Enjoy this chapter! ^^_**


	5. Chapter 5: His name is Orochimaru

Chapter 5: His name is Lord Orochimaru

**At Konoha Hospital**

Momiji sat in a chair next to Sanji. She was keeping close watch on him while Ryu was away on an important task.

She thought back to what Kakashi had told her the day before, smiling as she looked at Sanji while he slept.

She got up and went towards Sanji to get a closer look at him, feeling his forehead to make sure he wasn't feeling sick. She always did act motherly toward the children who all saw her like an older sister. Her deep affections came from her sister.

Kureha saw to it that each and every member of the Hayabusa Clan be treated like family, with love and care. No matter what, she never lost track of her pure heart. Like her, Momiji kept her pure heart exactly as it was and no matter what the obstacles were she always found power to overcome it.

Sighing, Momiji pet Sanji's head.

"I promise to keep you safe from now on Sanji, just like when the Tengu Brothers kidnapped you. I'll always be there when you need someone the most." She said, kissing his head softly.

Kakashi entered the room to check up on Sanji, surprised to see Momiji there.

"Oh! Didn't expect to see you here. How's he doing?" Kakashi kindly asked about Sanji.

"He's doing great. Your Medical Ninja really helped him out but…I don't fully believe that Sanji is beyond repair." She spoke confidently as she held onto the Eye of the Dragon, which was tied around her neck like a necklace.

"As long as the Ryujin are watching over us, we'll make it through this…and with their power, Sanji will heal." She said smiling at Kakashi.

Kakashi read her smile as a warm thank you for being so generous towards her and her feelings. He simply smiled back and nodded.

"Now…it's time to discuss some serious matters. ANBU just got word of it as did I." Kakashi spoke more solemnly as his face became serious.

"Huh?" Momiji said as she was thrown off by his sudden change in mood.

"Ryu and Anko have already set out to confirm and stop what may be another threat to the village. They've headed into the Forest of Death. Also…I wanted to tell you and Ryu this, but since Ryu's gone you'll have to do. Unidentified ninja have been reportedly seen swarming the area and heading to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground. Their descriptions sounded like people you may know." Kakashi said as Momiji had a sudden realization who they were.

"We need to go! We have to help Ryu!" Momiji yelled in a concerning manner.

**Back in the Forest of Death**

Ryu and Anko traveled the lengthy forest in search of Anko's sensei.

"He's gotta be around here somewhere! If we don't find him soon, he could-" She stopped suddenly, seeing a few ninja had been killed in the exams already.

Ryu stopped as well, noticing something peculiar about their deaths. Some of their limbs had been cut off as well as one of their heads head been decapitated.

"T…Those were teenagers…. who would of done something so awful…" Anko revolted in disgust and horror.

"As much as this is the Forest of Death…this was not made by any team. Anko…. who is this person we're looking for?" He said as he jumped down to closely examine the bodies.

While hesitant, Anko followed him to check the bodies.

"His name is…Orochimaru. He was once my sensei as well as several others. He used to be a shinobi here before he was caught performing illegal acts. He betrayed the village and stole forbidden information for himself. He's had a grudge against the Leaf ever since he left…. that was the last time I've heard form him, until now." Anko said, shuddering as she felt her curse seal reacting to his presence.

"Anko..!" Ryu shouted as he rushed to aid her.

"I'm fine…but he's very close. We need to hurry…I think he may have been the cause of this attack." Anko soon finished up, as she seemed to be fine.

Immediately as they began to leave, ninja sprawled out of every tree, corner and bush. Ryu knew he recognized the presence of the ninja and who they may be. The way the bodies were mutilated was the key to answering his question. The ones who attacked these teenage ninja were members of the Black Spider Clan.

Surrounding them, Ryu drew his sword with haste as Anko held onto two kunai.

"Ryu Hayabusa!" Spoke out one of the elite Black Spider ninja.

Ryu looked at the ninja who was dressed very differently than his comrades. He wore an outfit almost identical to Ryu's Legendary Black Falcon armor. The metallic parts almost seemed bone-like, as the headband resembled that of a demon. Bone spikes were covering his gauntlets and his feet seemed inhuman. Beast like with claws at the end of them. His arms were exposed but his skin was pale and colorless with his fingernails grown out like claws themselves.

"The man who murdered out leader, Lord Genshin, exactly one year ago. How lucky we are and how ironic it is for you to be here." He spoke with a very casual and intimidating tone.

"You may call me Akhiro. I am the one who will surpass not only you but also Lord Genshin as well to reclaim honor and vengeance for the injustice done to us! An incredible man gave me power. A man who saw to it that our clan would remain and prosper, while you've killed many if our kin senselessly!" He spoke a more demonically harmonic tone as his eyes began to glow red.

"Genshin died to protect and serve your clan! He gave me his blade to ensure the Archfiend wouldn't eradicate either of our clans! He died an honorable death, which was defiled by one of the Greater Fiends… that form of power is only a form of disrespect towards Genshin!" Ryu exclaimed in an attempt to change his way of thinking.

"Heh…. as if I care. I respected Genshin more than anyone here and with that…I can easily say that he was a fool. He had honor of the highest caliber but his quest was a blind one. He only wanted to be amongst the rank of the Dragon Linage for the sake of his clan. I on the other hand wish to save them." Akhiro responded to Ryu, acting superior compared to him.

"Anko…" Ryu said, looking back at her with his eyes.

She looked at him, looking rather stressed.

"Go. I'll handle these guys. As long as you find that guy, things will be okay…" He ended with a nod toward her.

Nodding back, she prepared to leap off

"…You better be safe dammit…." Anko said, leaping away into the forest.

"Hmph, playing the hero are we? Kill him." Akhiro said as he vanished within the blink of an eye.

"Die, Ryu Hayabusa!" Shouted one of the Black Spider ninja as the rest charged towards Ryu.

Anko stopped momentarily, checking on Ryu to make sure he wasn't in any danger. What she saw astonished her.

Ryu started off by lunging at one of the Black Spider Claw ninja, slashing at him repeatedly as he dodged several swings from several other ninja. In doing so, he managed to clashed swords and cut through most of the attackers. Sliding from a barrage of slashes, Ryu jumped on one of the ninja's back and leaped off. He was so fast that his mere image was left in the form of a blur after image.

Within that maneuver off the ninja's back, Ryu stole his blade and lunged towards another ninja behind the previous one. Ryu grabbed him by the neck with a very fast dash form the air into him, his neck held by the dual blades. He used the weight and momentum of his dash to flip over his enemy and toss him at a couple of other ninja, the blades slitting his throat and decapitating him. Ryu then spun in a 360 motion with his blades pointed out, slashing at the surrounding enemies as he then swung his blades upwards in a vertical direction. While in the air, Ryu gained momentum from his rapid slashes, moving so fast he managed to grab a hold of the elite ninja and grab him while upside down. He dropped downward, spinning his enemy as he crashed down. The impact made the elite Black Spider ninja's head explode as it sent a shock wave that incapacitated the other surrounding ninja.

"I-Incredible! He's so fast and precise, I can't believe he's capable of so much…I underestimated him." Anko thought to herself, widening her eyes, before noticing a few Black Spider ninja were following her.

"So that's how it is, huh?" She said to herself as she went off to find Orochimaru.

The group of enemy ninja decided to perform and singular attack onto the Dragon Ninja, all of them jumping in the air and diving downwards towards his vicinity. They slashed down while diving, aiming for all of Ryu's vitals only to be sent back by a roaring flame aura that engulfed Ryu.

Some had been lit on fire entirely from his aura alone but a few circled around him, trying to find an opening.

Ryu's ability to perform handsigns was rather fast, so much the Black Spider missed it completely.

Ryu waved his hands around as if he were performing a spell, which was exactly what his clan's Kekkei Genkai was.

Their Ninpo was a variant on Ninjutsu but more like Senjutsu, considered to be Ninja Magic by many. By tapping into and manipulating natural energy and spiritual energy, Ryu can create unique Nature Type that cannot be copied by normal ninja so easily. For example, the ninpo he conjured was a Fire Release but a unique one. It harnessed and conjured Dragon Flames. It was known as the Art of the Flame Dragon. Other ninja known to use their own variants of Ninpo are the Black Spider Clan however clans such as the Kamikaze Clan cannot.

" Kaen Ryu no Jutsu!" Ryu spoke in his native language activating his flames as four large fireballs directed towards the remaining ninja, setting the area they hit on fire.

The Black Spider ninja all soon fell over, screaming in agony as they soon silenced and died.

Ryu tossed away the used blade of his enemy, putting away the other one back into the case.

Ryu took a deep breath as he relaxed, seemingly not realizing another ninja sneaking up behind him. His Ninja Senses took effect as the Black Spider Elite tried to grab him, slowing down time in his eyes. With his reflexes, Ryu hastily drew his sword in the blink of an eye and stabbed him mid-air. He then followed up by throwing him down with his sword while sliding it out of him. He then finished it with a decapitation from above.

Meanwhile, Conjurers from the Black Spider Clan soon caught Anko in a chase. They are the one's tasked with the sacred techniques of the clan, able to perform forbidden ninpo.

"Guess they like to make they're presence known!" She said as she pointed her arm at them.

"Sen'eijashu!" She yelled out as several snakes emerged from her sleeve, managing to stab and bite one of the conjurers in several vital spots.

The other chopped off the heads of the snakes, abandoning his comrade to attack the purple haired female.

"Damn, they're ruthless!" She thought as she dodged his attacks, pulling out two kunai.

She clashed with the ninja multiple times, turning, dodging, flipping and twirling around as the conjurer used his own supernatural techniques such as floating and flying.

Performing handsigns, Anko readied a Fire Release.

She successfully performed it while speaking the seal name, blowing out fire towards him.

Hearing a scream, she grinned in accomplishment.

"That's the sound I'm looking for…" She said with a sinister smirk.

Upon thinking he had died, demonic chanting was heard within the flames as they cleared, showing impact but no body.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her erupts and sends a beam of fire energy into the sky. She managed to evade it, getting slightly sizzled by the technique.

"The only sounds I wanna hear is your pain and agony…" A dark voice spoke out as she widened her eyes in fear of the realization.

He slashed down at her, hitting Anko in the back. As she fell, the ninja planned to make a fatal blow to her neck but was stopped as sudden impact has flashed before him.

Pain is all he felt in his neck, his eyes widened as he turned to see the Dragon Ninja holding the fallen kunoichi.

"N-No way! Damn you Ryu Hayabu-" He thought in his head before blood spurted from his neck wound, his head sliding and falling off with blood spraying everywhere.

Anko had passed out from her wound momentarily only to open her eyes and in a blurry vision saw Ryu's face, looking at her in concern.

"R..Ryu…" Anko said quietly as her vision adjusted, seeing that he was holding her in his arms.

"Are you okay?" He asked her as he slowly and gently sat her down.

"Y-Yeah…just a back injury, hardly a set back- AHH!" She gruesomely yelled in pain, he back covered in blood.

"Quick, let me take a look." Ryu hurried her, Anko appearing hesitant.

"I-I'm fine really…don't worry about me." She said as Ryu removed her jacket, taking a look as her back.

She had an embarrassed and guilty looking face while blushing slightly.

Ryu tore the rest of her mesh top to expose her backside so he could see the wound itself.

Anko's cheeks soon lit up, realizing her bare back was showing to Ryu as well as the sides of her bosom. She was embarrassed but she trusted him.

He placed his palms on her back and over the wound.

She gasped slightly from the pain and ecstasy of his masculine hands touching her.

"Reimyou no Jutsu…" Ryu said softly as he performed the Art of Spiritual Life, her wound healing slowly but surely.

She felt a relieving sensation and somewhat of a pleasurable one. In her head she was in a heaven of ecstasy.

"Ohh God I want this to last forever…." She thought in her head as she slightly let her tongue hang.

"There." Ryu said as he cleaned off the blood and helped Anko up.

"You feeling any better?" He asked, noticing her cartoonishly satisfied and perverted face as well as slightly drooling.

"Ohh yeah, better than ever~! Thanks Ryu-san. For this…you can always ask me for absolutely anything~" She acted flirtatiously.

"It's ok, I don't expect anything in return." Ryu replied in a modest fashion.

She gave him an annoyed and confused look.

"I was giving you a free ticket, idiot!" Her inner thoughts raged as she smiled passive aggressively.

"But for now, we need to find Orochimaru., I managed to find out something…the Black Spider group here was a diversion. They were hired and given power by Orochimaru…. he tasked them to attack anyone here to make his presence unknown." He continued speaking to her.

"So he is here…which must mean he has very disastrous plans if he enlisted your clan's rivals but…that would also inquire that he knew you'd be here. Something's not right." Anko said as she tied her mesh top from the back.

Realizing her breasts were slightly exposed by their sides and close to falling out, she gave him an agitated look and turned around. She quickly tied what she could together and threw on her jacket.

"I'll go on ahead. You search the other ends of the forest and see what you can find…I fear he may be on the prowl." Anko said in concern.

Ryu placed his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find him, I promise you." Ryu said in a comforting manner.

"Be careful…please?" Anko asked Ryu, showing a glimmer of care towards him.

He nodded, backing off as he turned and leapt off, Anko doing the same in the other direction.

Little did they know that within the Forest, Team 7 was fighting a battle for their lives. The fight had been going on during Ryu and Anko's encounter and the discovery of the Grass ninja. Sasuke had been immobilized by the man and nearly forced to hand over the scrolls. However Naruto came in and aided his comrade in the battle after being swallowed up by a snake. During the battle Naruto had tapped into some unusual power, power that made even Sasuke tremble.

The man's giant snake summon managed to knocked Naruto away as it lunged after Sasuke before ultimately being stopped immediately by Naruto.

"Hey, are you hurt, scaredy-cat?" Naruto said as he looked up at Sasuke, his eyes taking on a red color with a slit as the pupil.

Sasuke couldn't believe such a power could come form a clumsy ninja like Naruto.

Angry, Naruto called Sasuke out on the fact he was so fearful. Calling him a fake Sasuke. Regardless the strange man captured him by his tongue.

"There's no doubt about it…look…" He said exposing his stomach to reveal a seal.

"Your seal is revealing itself…" He said as his fingertips began to glow a purple looking energy.

Pressing his palm against Naruto's stomach had caused the temporary power to vanish. It was his Five Element Seal which surpressed what the man realized was the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Naruto had passed out from the seal and was tossed aside, hung to a tree by a kunai. Sasuke seemed to have changed his demeanor due to Naruto's efforts and words as well as his brother Itachi's words from long ago.

"Now to fight you…let's see how strong you really are." The man said as he made his snake dissipate into a cloud of smoke.

Readying his Sharingan, Sasuke entered battle with the mysterious man. They fought at a fast pace, using all sorts of maneuvers and techniques to evade and attack each other.

Sasuke eventually managed to trap the man using small bombs to stagger and distract him. Upon explosion, Sasuke managed to jump away and throw three windmill shurkien controlled by his Sharingan. Pulling on the strings attached, he trapped him within a barrage of strings that held him firmly against the trunk of a tree.

"Now's my chance! Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" Sasuke then let our a stream of flames that directed and hit the man, causing him to yell out in agony

"Ngh…" Sasuke reacted to the fatigue he received when performing that technique.

Sakura went over to make sure he was okay, Naruto still hanging by kunai against a tree.

The man, now with an exposed eye and a melted face mask, broke free of the strings soon placed the two in a state of paralysis.

"I'm impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the Uchiha name. I want you after all…" The man said as he changed the logo of his headband to that of the Sound Ninja's symbol.

"You show more potential than your brother Itachi though it is very much apparent you are his brother…" He spoke in a very eerie manner.

"Who are you?!" Sasuke demanded the man's name.

"My name…is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again…you'll complete this Exam as if your life depended on it…" Orochimaru spoke as he began to expunge a green flame from the scroll.

"In other words…you'll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Sound Ninja." He said chuckling sinisterly to himself.

"What are you talking about?! We don't ever want to see you again!" Sakura boasted in a fearful and disgusted manner.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way dear…" He said as he made a hand sing.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's head extended from his neck, charging towards and biting Sasuke in the neck. After biting him good his head flew back to his shoulders, a curse mark appearing on Sasuke's neck in the form of three tomoe.

"Consider this my parting gift…one that will make you seek me for power, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru indulged in his passing of the curse to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed as she worried about his well being, seeing him revel in immense pain.

"It was fun seeing your moves…until next time." He slowly sank down into the wooden bark and disappeared completely.

A few hours or so had passed, as the sun began to set, since the attack. Sasuke was in agony. The power of the curse began to seep its way into him. Eventually it had knocked him out. Sakura was left with no one to defend her, having to take care of both Naruto and Sasuke.

Night eventually fell as time passed.

Momiji searched high and low for any signs of Ryu and Anko, only to find more slaughtered children as well as Black Spider ninja.

"My suspicions were right…the Black Spider is involved in this. But who would've brought them here?" She thought to herself, seeing recently made footsteps.

"That must be Ryu-san! I gotta help him at all costs!" Momiji said as she fled off into the forest.

Meanwhile, Anko had tracked Orochimaru down to be close by. He had nestled himself into a semi-cocoon like state while hung upside down.

"He's close! I can feel it!" She thought to herself as she ran along and over many tree branches.

Orochimaru opened his eyes to see that she had found him, standing before him.

"Well… its been a long time…Anko." The snake like man said as he licked his lips with his inhumanly long tongue.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey everyone, hope this is going well so far especially with the made up lore I had to make up for it all to make sense XD since ninpo uses ki and not chakra and whatnot! I hope this has been a good read for everyone. I've been having so much fun writing this honestly and to see so many people read my stories so fast it really makes me feel happy! :)<strong>_

_**Ninpo and Jutsus used:**_

_**Kaen Ryu no Jutsu (Art of the Flame Dragon)**_

_**Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand)**_

_**Reimyou no Jutsu (Art of Spirit Life)**_

_**Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)**_

_**Gogyō Fūin (Five Elements Seal)**_

_**Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven)**_


	6. Chapter 6: Ayane on the scene!

Chapter 6: Ayane on the scene!

"So it was you all along, Orochimaru…you're an S-Ranked Criminal you know?" Anko Mitarashi, former student of Orochimaru, said to him while trying to show her serious nature in defeating him.

"So what shall you do now? Kill me?" he said, merely taunting her as he smiled sinisterly.

The face that was previously melted by Sasuke Uchiha was still latched onto him but, while heavily damaged, merely revealed his snake-like eyes.

Anko trembled but not in fear of her former master. She never forgave him for how he treated her by leaving the village. As she put it, she felt like she was tossed away like garbage wanting to be forgot.

"As your former subordinate, it's my duty to defeat you. Isn't that right sensei?" She inquired as five senbon slid out of her sleeves and into her fingers.

Holding onto the senbon like claws, she prepared a preemptive attack only to be counters by Orochimaru.

"You know that won't be possible…" Orochimaru said as he countered Anko's preparation by throwing his tongue at her.

She managed to jump up against the taller portion of the trunk as his tongue missed her, hitting the bark with mighty force. Suddenly the tongue had stretched up towards her and grabbed her wrist. It pulled her down, disarming her, and bringing her down back to his level.

"Sen'eijashu!" Anko spoke as four snakes shot out of her sleeve, hitting the trunk in which Orochimaru was seeped into.

"I won't let you escape!" Anko confidently spoke as she yanked Orochimaru out of his resting place.

She managed to throw him against the trunk she previously used as an escape route against his tongue. Moments afterwards she had pinned him by stabbing both of their hands into the trunk via kunai.

"Got ya…now to end this for good." Anko followed as she placed her other hand onto his free hand, forming a sign.

Taking a deep breath, Anko proceeded to finish Orochimaru off by performing the Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique, which kills both the target and the user. She spoke the words out clearly but ultimately was cut off by her sensei's sinister voice.

"Committing suicide, are you?" Orochimaru spoke, forming behind her as she spotted him.

"A substitution!" She thought as she turned to see the body she trapped mold back into mud.

She looked disappointed in herself, realizing she had failed her mission and everyone by falling for a stupid trap. Removing her hand from the kunai, she turned to him.

"You really are careless, Anko…" He said as he activated her Curse Seal, making it surface once again.

Her eyes widened as an intense amount of pain formed around the Curse Seal, making her cringe while trying to resist.

"What are you doing here? Are you planning on assassinating Lord Third?" She demanded, curious on why he had returned.

"I could but I am not ranked that high in power to do such a thing just yet…I need more followers." He said as he tore off his facemask, revealing his snake like face and sinister grin.

"B-But those Black Spider ninja! There were a lot which seems to be enough followers to plan an assassination!" She said in response to his answer.

"You mean the lackluster diminished clan? That fool Ahkiro thinks only for his clan. He made a deal with me only for Hayabusa's head. Though I am tempted to test on his blood and genetics, his squabble with the Black Spider is none of my concern. I'm merely using him and his men as scouters." He said as he moved closer over to her.

"As of now, my only focus is a peculiar boy with a body I am just dying to take…if he's anything like you, he'll survive the Curse I bestowed upon him." He said as he softly laughed to himself.

"He'll die…why can't you just accept that and leave?" Anko said, as the pain got worse.

"Well, the chances of him dying are only 10%. However, this one was special and worth the risk. Inheriting the power of the Uchiha that I desperately want." He said as he licked his lips with his long tongue.

"If that's what you are seeking, then why enlist the Black Spider as scouts? They're nothing but relentless murderers with no remorse whatsoever. They even killed some of the attendees here in this exam!" She shouted at him, disgusted by what he had created.

"Because as long as a greater threat remains, I can move swiftly in the shadows. I anticipated the inevitable attacks by the Black Spider…but like I said before, they're actions and motivation concerns me, not. But incase I needed their power, I keep them around." He replied casually as he kneeled in front of an immobilized Anko.

"I bet you that the part that's burning you deep inside is not that but my choosing of the Uchiha boy as my next vessel. Are you jealous? Especially since I casted you out like the trash you are? You never did forgive me did you…?" He said caressing her cheek.

He then immediately got up and walked opposite of her position.

"You also have three of my subordinates in this Exam, the three Sound ninja. Let this exam continue." He said as a sudden kunai flew towards him, catching it without even reacting.

"Ku ku ku…. who's come to join the party?" He said before widening his eyes.

A purple flame formed over the cherry blossom at the end of the kunai, exploding with great impact.

Soon a hooded girl jumped in front of Anko, separating her between Orochimaru.

Orochimaru flew back and hit the other side of the tree, against the trunk he was yanked out of. He fell backwards into the crevice he had nestled.

Anko stared at the woman in shock but with caution. She had no idea who she was or if she was affiliated with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru rose in a very vampyric manner without have to move any of his limbs.

"That power…I recognize it. Mugen Tenshin…" He said as he stood up after rising, his face rather angered but excited.

"Mugen…Tenshin…? Who are you?" Anko asked the hooded female.

"I…am here to help." She spoke softly as she removed her hood and cloak.

"The cursed child of the Mugen Tenshin Clan's legend…. here to help the Dragon Ninja yet again? How cute, you share something in common with my former student there. You and your petty crushes." He cackled maniacally while having his arms crossed.

Anko realized she was someone close to Ryu, feeling shattered for not only being made to feel like a failure as a ninja for feeling any close feelings to him but feeling silly that she felt she had any chance with him whatsoever.

"Ryu…is more than a crush to me…I admire him. He saved me from my path many times over and set me free. But like him, I have priorities. My clan, my friends and my loved ones. One of them includes Hayabusa-sama! Anyone who is a friend of his is a friend of mine and I won't let you hurt her!" She said as she drew her dual daggers, getting into a stance.

Anko looked back over to her, her eyes gazing at the female warrior in admiration and kindness. She had never felt such a feeling of importance such as this from a total stranger.

"Hmph, cute but I don't have time for this. I suggest you drop your stance before I hur-" He was halted, a cutting sound heard as a flash of wind sped by him.

Standing behind him in a kneeling animation, as if he has cut through someone, was Ryu. Blood splattered from Orochimaru's chest and neck.

'Ryu! Watch out!" Anko yelled out to him in concern.

Sensing a disturbance and danger, Ryu dodged as Orochimaru's mouth seemingly broke open wide. In a disgusting form of escape, Orochimaru formed out of his own body and slithered away in a new one like a snake, attempting to attack Ryu and Ayane.

He shattered the branch his body was standing on to try and make them fall only to miss. Ryu and Ayane managed to recover near Anko as Orochimaru landed opposite to their vicinity, the middle being a gap separating them.

"Heh, so this is the Dragon Ninja. I'll admit I am impressed. No one has ever managed to sneak up on me like that…and hit me all at the same time. You are interesting…but my curse seal would not be able to work on you, given your blood. I cannot say it's work on that demon child either…. But I've already gotten what I've needed here." He said, disappearing into a burst of purple flame.

Vanishing, his voice was still heard.

"If any of you, however, attempt to spoil my fun…it'll be the end of Konoha itself. After all…I have people willing to get their hands dirty for power…" He said as he completely had vanished.

Anko had gasped in relief, breathing heavily.

"Anko, are you okay?" Ryu asked as he kneeled besides her, helping her up along with Ayane.

"Y-Yeah…are you gonna introduce me to your friend?" She asked him, slightly holding a jealous tone but in a friendly manner.

"This is Ayane, one of our allies in the Hayabusa village. She used to be under my uncle Murai's command…before he betrayed us and tried to free the Dark Dragon. Since then she has gone back to her own clan, the Mugen Tenshin clan." He said as Anko was stunned to hear of someone else she could relate to.

Looking up at her, Ayane smiled sweetly upon helping her up.

"Master Ryu is right. I still don't know why I was employed under him but… Ryu saved me by defeating Murai. Had I known, I would've left but Ryu made it clear for me what was important to me as a ninja. Betrayal is not one of those things." She said as she put one arm over her shoulder, Ryu doing the same for Anko's other arm.

Before they could depart, Momiji had landed in front of them. She had tracked Ryu down by following the onslaught of Black Spider ninja corpses.

"Ryu-san! Thank goodness you're alright!" She said running over to them.

Anko saw the woman, noticing her sizeable bust as well as observing Ayane's as well.

"Oh come on, give me a break! You kidding me?!" Anko thought to herself in jealousy as her head dropped comically in depression.

The rest looked at her in confusion, blinking as they wondered what what's wrong with her.

"Ahem! I-I'm fine Ryu, go on with the girls and I'll report back." She said, pouting, as she dusted herself only to cringe at her injury as well as the lingering effects of her curse seal.

"Ngh?! Damn…" Anko said, breathing slowly to regain her strength.

Ayane and Momiji helped here up, being very kind to her despite Anko's secret jealousy towards them.

"N-No I don't wanna-" Momiji immediately cut her off.

"Hush, we'll help you get out so you can meet up with ANBU. I need to head back anyways but…I need to tell Ryu something." She said as she turned her head towards him.

"The Black Spider are up to something…. something worse than before. The reason why I say this is because Ayane gathered intel before the second phase began. Apparently, the Black Spider is unaware of this faction's actions. They are acting on their own accord under Akhiro's orders. Seems he was recently promoted in rank…and sought out this Orochimaru soon after." She said confirming with Ryu of the information.

"I would have told you but you had left before I could get to you. I got to Momiji as she headed out to look for you. We decided to find you as fast as possible." Ayane added to Momiji's comments.

Ryu nodded, understanding what has been told to him.

"I'll figure something out but for the time being…the last thing we need is a situation. I'll continue to watch over this area. But I need to go back to the Leaf for some supplies." He soon followed.

"After this phase, we need to make a meeting in the tower at the end of the test." Anko told everyone.

"But first you need help. Ryu go on ahead, we'll be fine." Momiji suggested to Ryu.

Nodding, all four of them went their separate ways as they simultaneously flew off.

Back in the forest

"You told me we'd be able to handle Ryu with ease with this power…you lied to me Orochimaru!" Akhiro lashed out at him, pointing his blade at the Sennin in anger.

"You're too eager Akhiro…I merely gave you about 10% of the power I promised you. Of course, getting the sacred scrolls of your clan was not an easy task. I still had to learn a lot about these so-called Fiends and their power. I only managed to replicate an amount of power that wouldn't kill you right away." Orochimaru replied with a clam demeanor.

Akhiro looked pissed. He threw his blade into the ground and trembled in frustration.

"I don't expect your pity nor your sympathy…but you have no idea what it means to lose honor and valor in your clan. Seeing as you're a missing-Nin, I never expected you to understand at all. However you understand the feeling of being placed in a position of failure and grief…if you really want us to play in your part…you'll help us. We wanna resurrect the power of Vigoor in a new incarnation but first…we need Ryu's head and this village destroyed. You've already got Sand Ninja and Sound Ninja at your disposal…what are you waiting for?" He asked him, calming down it seemed.

"I'm having my fun with my new vessel…. and as long as I'm having my fun, the village remains until I decide I'm too bored. Your Archfiend's power is the power of another…I for one want none of that. Instead I want a power as my own, one I can control. Though I must admit… the power residing in your clan and the Dragon clan astounds me. I have enjoyed my research on your blood and theirs... and it's made me want to look into it more. For now, the best test I can rely on is you Akhiro. Your body is unique compared to how most Fiend sects would make their elites." Orochimaru said, praising the results of his experiments on Akhiro and his ninja.

Akhiro looked at him, feeling as if he realized what more he could do for his clan. He realized he was unique compared to Genshin, so much he knew he deserved his blade.

"We'll act as your lap dogs then for now…but if you want us to position ourselves, most of us will need to be able to disguise ourselves. Especially me…" He said, revolting in the fact he looked monstrous.

"Silly Ahkiro…you always could transform back to your previous state. You just have to imagine it so and it is yours." Orochimaru said slithering his tongue around to tease him.

Akhiro took a deep breath, his form shifting back to that of a human appearance.

He wore mesh body armor underneath a traditional Black Spider vest, both of which cut off from his shoulders. His hair was slick and black. Spiky as well with a somewhat shaggy appearance while remaining fixed back slightly. His claws formed into one arm being wrapped in several straps angled in different directions while the other held only two bands around his forearm and below his shoulder, a strap connecting the two bands. His gloves were fingerless and had small arm guards that had spikes imbedded within them. The straps were connected to a set of armor underneath his vest but over his mesh suit.

The armor in question consisted of a small, fitting chest plate as well as a back plate. He had small fitting armor guarding his abdomen too. The only piece of connected armor that was exposed was his shoulder guards. He wore ninja tabi paired with ninja hakama that held several bands over his left leg and a couple on his right, shi guards tied over his shins as well. His blade and sheath was strapped to his back.

The color palette consisted of almost entirely black with red outlining in some areas of the vest and hakama. They matched his eyes that were a blend of scarlet red and golden orange, the red dominating the orange as the main color of his iris.

The color of the armor, straps and arm guards had a similar color palette except with a bit more brown implemented. His armor was colored black with a brownish outline, the texture seemingly bone yet fleshy. It almost seemed inhuman. His straps were all a dark scarlet red with black designs printed onto the straps. The arm guards had a brownish hue to them with reddish tint, the materials making the spikes seemingly almost bone-like. They also connected to the straps via the glove underneath which was pure black.

"I am…myself once again…" Akhiro said in revelation to his newfound ability

"You have an unlimited source of energy too…you may keep this form however long you please." Orochimaru inquired him as he gazed upon his greatest experiment yet.

As the day became night, Sakura was watching over and unconscious Naruto and Sasuke. She was worried, as she had never had to fight for anyone before, not even herself. Determined, she remained calm and tended to her teammates.

Little did she know she was being spied on by Oto ninja. Team Dosu was Orochimaru's team and they made sure that their enemy remained in their sights.

They would soon plan an attack for them.

Ayane, Mimiji and Anko safely made it back as two ANBU showed up but before they could make their appearance, a few tigers had shown up.

"At a time like this…. really now?!" Anko thought to herself as her, Momiji and Ayane prepared to fight.

Immediately afterwards, ANBU had shown up and stopped the tigers from mauling them down.

"Anko-sama, are you okay?" One of the men asked

"Yes…thanks to these two foreign ninja. I owe them my life." She said, showing her gratitude towards their efforts.

"You guys are late." Momiji said, crossing her arms.

"Don't say such things. We arrived precisely as we meant to. However, we never anticipated Anko confronting the criminal." The other ANBU male spoke out in reply to Momiji

"I had help… Hayabusa helped me track him down. Wihtout him and these two I could have been dead or worse…" Anko said as she gasped, falling to her knees

They all rushed to help her in panic before being halted by her

"Don't interfere just yet…not even with Orochimaru." She said as the ANBU ninja felt confused

"Why? I don't understa-"

"Just trust me…get Hokage-sama and we'll meet in the tower. I'll explain everything then" She said as she slowly got up

Before they could move, Black Spider ninja quickly assembled and planned to attack them.

"Konoha scum, die!" The leader of the attack shouted before having his head decapitated.

The other two looked shocked and horrified by their leader's suddenly death, being cut down soon after.

"The Black Spider never learns, do they?" An elderly man spoke as he put his blade back into his walking cane, setting it on the floor and weakly walking up to the group.

"Am I in the right area? This is the vicinity of Konohagakure, isn't it?" The man asked as he looked up and took off his straw hat.

"Muramasa!" Momiji cheered happily as she went over to help him as well as say hello.

"What on Earth are you doing here? Weren't you in Tokyo?" She asked him as she helped him walk over towards the group.

"I was but I felt a deep disturbance… also I've been looking to expand my shop. Ryu came to this place in his youth and it made me want to come here since he returned. I imagine I can help out in some way or form." The man said as he looked at the ANBU soldiers.

"Ahh, elite forces. Things are brewing up badly I can see… here young lady, take this." He said as he gave Anko one of his special Omusubi

She blinked at Muramasa's sudden appearance as well as his sudden generosity. Regardless, she took it and ate a bit of it.

"Thank you…" She said as she wiped her mouth.

"Momiji…where is Ryu? I wish to talk to him about something very important." He asked Momiji curiously

"Well he's busy…but I'm going back to see the kids in the hospital. Sanji got hurt but he's doing better. I can take you back and maybe get you working on a shop here." She said as she turned to the ANBU.

"I'll take him back. Ayane will assist you in finding Ryu if you need him. You can trust her." Momiji said as the ANBU nodded to her.

She immediately left with Muramasa as the ANBU and Ayane accompanied Anko.

Meanwhile, Ryu searched around to keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious.

"Akhiro…. whoever you may be…I won't allow you to harm these people." He thought to himself as he sped off into the forest, unaware he was being watch from afar by the newly mended Akhiro

"Soon we'll have out encounter Hayabusa. First…I need the weapon of an old friend." He thought to himself as he cackled softly, flickering off as he vanished.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey everyone! I hope this chapter doesn't seem rushed and off-putting. I've been worried about this one as it took me a few days to finish. So far it seems everyone is liking it so maybe this one will be fine too ewe but thank you all who have given my stories a look, especially this new one. It means the world to me…truly to does.<strong>_

_**On a real note, I just wanna say something.**_

_**Being the person I am, it's hard to really find a source of creativity. My life has been in a rough spot recently and now I've never felt more alive than when I write. So far…my creative engine has started revving because of all the support and I cannot thank people enough for giving my stories a chance, whether they like it or not.**_

_**It really makes me feel less cynical and happier than ever. So know I try my best and put all my effort into making these. I try my absolute hardest to make this a story someone can read and say "I can imagine that". I do it to make everyone happy because…being unhappy and depressed is a hard thing. It harms you and the people around you. Not just depression but any form of sadness anguish or pain that we all experience at some point or another.**_

_**It makes me happy to know that my writing give people the want and desire to indulge themselves into a world created by one crazy guy.**_

_**So, thank you. It means the world to me.**_

_**If anyone has anything to say, suggest or ask feel free to message me and/or comment on this story. I read any and all comments I can get and take it all into consideration. Constructive criticism is also expected but not entirely. If you want me to change my style or my story in any way, I'm more than happy to discuss it with anyone.**_


	7. Chapter 7: Ryu's Conviction

Chapter 7: Ryu's Conviction

What did Akhiro mean? He spoke of a dark weapon borrowed from an old friend. Could he be speaking of an ancient weapon of darkness?

Ryu had recalled his fight with former leader of the Black Spider Clan whilst searching the forest for anything else suspicious.

Ryu, Genshin falling over as his helmet was sliced in half, vanquished the Lord of the Dark Ninja.

Upon Ryu putting away his balde, achieving victory, Genshin spoke.

"Are you their…Dragon Ninja…? N-Ngh…. all grows dark…. and silent." He spoke with a rather dark yet raspy voice, breathing heavily form his wounds.

Ryu listened to the fallen warrior's final words peacefully, looking down at him from afar

"I have staked my name. I have fought with all of my being, all to forge a future for the Black Spider Clan. I have no regrets. Just as you have fought for a cause greater than yourself, so too, have I." He said, his voice weakening along with himself

He raised the Blade of the Archfiend up to Ryu, wanting him to take it.

"Dragon Ninja…take my cursed blade…" Genshin spoke his final words to Ryu as Ryu took it from him, Genshin taking his final breath while his arm fell over.

Genshin, leader and Master Ninja of the Black Spider Clan was no more.

Ryu snapped out of his flashback only to realize something terrible. Akhiro's true intentions.

"So that's his game… he wanted to test my strength. He wanted to measure himself to see if he could match me... just like Genshin. He took Orochimaru's power in hopes he could match me without the Blade of the Archfiend…but he realizes I am far too powerful to match. If so, why? The power of the Blade was sealed when I defeated him. Unless…. he is planning something else." Ryu pondered, hearing sudden crashing noise that broke his train of thought.

"Konoha Senpuu!" A voice roared in a rather high-pitched voice, a boy in green attacking what appeared to be the sound ninja, Zaku, Dosu and Kin.

"Sound ninja…they must be working for Orochimaru…but they're children… could he really be employing..?!" Ryu said softly to himself, seeing Rock Lee stand between Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke and the Sound Ninja.

"Lee, what are you doing? In this test, I'm even an enemy…" She said in a rather worried tone.

"I told you before, I'll protect you until I die!" Lee said proudly as he held his stance at the other three.

"Right…thank you Rock Lee.." She said as Dosu saw his goofy expression over his self-proclaimed victory at winning Sakura's heart.

"Zaku…I'll let you have Sasuke, I'll handle these two… the guy with the Bushy Eyebrows is pretty damned good in Taijutsu, guess I'll get to have some fun after all…" He said as he revealed his arm, charging at them directly.

Sakura immediately reacted by throwing a kunai at Dosu, Dosu evading it by jumping up. He aimed his arm downwards towards their vicinity only to be countered by Lee pulling out one of the tree's large roots and bark from underneath the ground.

"I know there is some kind of trick to your attack…therefore I will not waste my time trying to dodge it. After all, I've seen your jutsu before." He said as Dosu backed away, Zaku, Kin and Sakura all looking rather surprised to see such strength emerge from such a goofy looking guy.

Ryu too was amazed by his abilities. He knew he would be able to take care of it but in case they needed help, he called upon the spirit of the Hayabusa Clan, the falcon.

It landed on his arm, Ryu speaking softly to it.

"You haven't seen anything yet? Oh? Black Spider prowling around? Damn…they're everywhere. Listen keep watch on these kids. The Sound Ninja are the enemy but so far show no imminent threat. If they need help, relay a distress signal to me and I'll rush to their aid. If I'm not available, find someone who can help." Ryu ordered it as he allowed his feathered ally to fly off; his wounds healing as the blood seemingly vanished from his body.

"As for me, I need to change." Ryu said as he turned to see what had been happening behind his back.

Lee had tried to activate the Front Lotus of the Eight Inner Gates to meet with the conditions of his opponents. Within the blink of an eye Lee had vanished beneath Dosu and launched him upwards, appearing directly behind him in the air as they hung upside down.

Lee's masterful Taijutsu impressed Ryu. Lee then wrapped the wrappings on his arm over Dosu, getting him in his grasp as Lee spun downwards towards the ground.

"That move..! That's my Izuna Drop!" Ryu thought to himself, seeing that the Hayabusa way of Ninjutsu has somehow evolved and passed over to countless younger ninja.

"Kage Buyō!" Lee yelled out as he slammed Dosu down into the ground, leaping off all while feeling as if he did little to no damage.

It turned out Zaku had saved him at the last minute, making a form of soft dirt to break his fall.

"Good catch…" Dosu said upon getting out of his stunned phase.

"Now…" He said as he flashed over to Lee, stunning him with a sound wave bursting from the gadget on his right arm.

Lee fell to his knees. He was unable to recover from his previous attack, rendering him defenseless for a short while.

"You may be fast…but sound is faster. I suppose it's time I spoke of this gadget I wear…. you do know what sound is, correct?" Dosu taunted Lee, as Lee's vision grew very blurry and woozy.

"Vibrations…"Sakura inquired.

"Guess the girl deserves a prize then. Yes vibrations…whenever a large vibration creates a sound wave the ear collects it and send it down to your eardrum. However whenever the tympanic membrane is exposed to about 150 decibels and more the eardrum ruptures and if the sound is powerful enough to disrupt the deepest of your inner ear canals…causing you to lose your balance. How about it hero? Feeling dizzy, nauseous? You may as well lie down…" Dosu had educated them on his technique, taunting the distorted Lee even more so.

"…I can't just stand here…but if I get involved so soon, the mission will be a failure. I need to wait…" Ryu said, putting off his trip to the Hokage's mansion to analyze these opponents and their techniques as a whole.

"As for me, I can manipulate ultrasonic waves and air pressure…face it, your Taijutsu, as good as it is, won't work against us. You may as well give up while you still can…I can do things you've never even dreamed about…" Zaku inquired, giving their threatening demeanor more leverage than before.

Lee's ear began to bleed as he tried to recover from his attack, all while Dosu sped off. He passed by Lee and aimed for Sakura.

"No!" Lee yelled as he ran towards his vicinity, getting in the way of her as he tried to get in a sweeping kick.

"Huh, not as effective as before huh? I'm shocked you can move at all but I guess we'll have to do something about that!" Dosu yelled as he aimed to punch Lee, Lee managing to block it flawlessly as the sound emitted.

Suddenly, sound waves began to emit form his gauntlet entirely.

"You hear the sound of that? That's the device amplifying the vibrations of the impact, creating a wave of sound!" Dosu spoke as he held his attack firmly against Lee's arm.

"Lee, no…" Sakura said as she watched him fend off Dosu as best as he could all while taking the necessary damage he needed to.

"The best part is I can manipulate the wave with my chakra, directing it at whoever I so please!" Dosu remained adamant in his demeanor, the wave flowing directly into Lee's ear.

Within moments, Lee had fallen down. Dosu had prepared to finish him off before Sakura intervened and threw several kunai. Dosu blocked all of them easily with his device.

"Huh, almost forgot about you…" Dosu spoke in that grizzly manner, giving her that death glare.

"Damn, she's all alone…" Ryu said as he noticed Team 10 on the sidelines, watching the fight as it went down.

"They're here too? Despite that they're enemies? How strange… I guess the Leaf teaches well of their Genin the ways of a ninja well. To never abandon your comrade no matter the cost. They must be Asuma's team." Ryu said as he took it upon himself to eavesdrop, hanging upside down of a tree branch to avoid detection.

"So, Ino, what do you wanna do?" Shikamaru asked her, stating previously that she and Sakura used to be friends.

He also had stated that it was her call.

"I don't wanna go out there and get myself killed!" She snapped at him, looking very confused and scared.

"I mean…that's all that would happen…I'd be no different from her." Ino thought to herself as her legs began to shake in fear.

Meanwhile, Sakura threw a bundle of shuriken only to have Zaku blow them back at her.

"Ngh…he just blew my shuriken back at me!" She thought to herself as Kin appeared from behind and grasped her by her long flowing hair.

"What pretty hair…you know if you'd spend less time shampooing and practicing your justu, you wouldn't be in this mess now would you?" She patronized her as she looked at Zaku.

"Why don't we kill that Sasuke guy and make her watch?" Kin insisted to Zaku

"Sounds like fun to me~" Zaku said in a rather happy and cocky tone

Sakura was furious that they wanted to kill Sasuke but Kin kept her down by pulling her hair, yanking her down.

"S…Sakura…" Lee said as he watched them abuse her in such a manner, weakned and left with no strength.

Sakura was feeling weak. She felt like she had no strength left in her to fight.

Ryu could not stand to see such an injustice. She was merely a young ninja. Treating fellow ninja like this was immoral. He saw to it that there would be and end to it. He carefully drew his blade, prepared to strike down a lower level child before stopping.

"Why…am I holding back…this isn't like me." Ryu questioned his motives as well as his morals.

Sakura began to sob as tears began to form. Sakura was feleing guilty and worthless. She felt as if she had nothing to give back to Naruto, Sasuke and even Lee for rescuing her countless times. She felt like she couldn't do anything to save them.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Zaku exclaimed as he slowly approached Sasuke and Naruto resting in the cavern.

Everyone store in shock and awe, not knowing what to do.

Ryu felt he had no other options. He held his blade firmly. He was mentally prepared to strike down a young teenage ninja. His morals were off for the time being but he suddenly stopped again, this time feeling a surge of power growing.

"What the hell…" He thought to himself as his body felt the force of it.

It was coming from the curse mark Sasuke had received from Orochimaru.

He looked over to see a hint of purple aura emitting form his neck.

"What did he do…?" Ryu again thought to himself as he saw Saukra pull out a kunai

"Save it! It won't work on me." Kin said as he tightened her grip.

"It's not for you…." Sakura said as she cut her hair down, releasing her from Kin's grip.

Everyone, especially Ino gazed at her in shock. They never expected she'd do such a thing. It was, lack of a better word, spiritually enlightening in some manner.

She had metaphorically and literally freed herself from her restraints.

Even Ryu was surprised to see her take action.

Zaku took immediate action and informed Kin to take her down.

Kin took out her senbon as she rushed to Sakura who was weaving hand signs. Upon impact, the body exploded into a cloud of smoke revealing she had used the Body Replacement Technique.

"Hah, so that's your game huh? Where are you now?" Zaku said as Sakura rushed in, throwing several kunai at him.

"Heh, nice trick but it won't work on me!" Zaku said as he forced the kunai back, Sakura weaving signs for Body Replacement yet again.

"Now where are you?" Zaku said as he looked up to see her falling down towards him, once again weaving the same hand signs as before.

"You can try and play these games but you can't fool me!" Zaku said throwing kunai towards Sakura, hitting her and making Zaku assume it was another substitution.

"Now where will you appear ne-" A drop of blood stopped him on his cheek.

"Shit, she's real!" Zaku said as Sakura stabbed down onto his arm, biting onto the other one.

Zaku took her as a crazy person and began to punch her repeatedly in the head.

All everyone could do was look at her in shock and yet feel so sorry for her for the abuse she has taken to prove her worth.

"…She must know the true meaning of being a ninja. Her dedication is strong even if it is misguided…" Ryu said as he watched her take Zaku's hits over and over before being pushed off.

"Say your prayers bitch!" Zaku exclaimed as he pointed his hands at Sakura, suddenly being stopped and cut off by Team 10's intervention.

"What's this, more of your friends come to rescue you?" Zaku taunted them, looking rather pissed off.

"Ino…." Sakura spoke softly, surprised and relieved to see her friend at her side.

"Huh, don't act so surprised! I told you I'd never let you show me up!" Ino said, keeping her focus on the enemy as she spoke to her friend.

Ryu was somehow touched. Minimally of course but touched to see comrades working to together and protecting each other.

"Those kids…." Ryu said as he waited to see what would happen next until he noticed several Black Spider Ninja lurking by

They wanted in on the fun however they could.

Soon they emerged, surrounding the area. There were several elite and a few lower ranked Black Spider ninja.

"Looks like the Calvary had arrived~" Zaku said as he kept his hands intact, pointing it down at the enemy.

Ryu took immediate action and jumped into the battlefield, standing in front of Team 10 and Sakura.

"Who the hell is this now?!" Zaku spoke in an enraged manner, seeing he was at least a Jounin.

"It's you!" Sakura said as he recognized Ryu from his previous encounter

"Sakura, was it?" Ryu asked her of her name

"Yeah…who are you again?" Sakura replied, curious to remember his name

"It's Ryu, Ryu Hayabusa. I am a Dragon Ninja and so long as Black Spider threaten you, I'll make little work of them." He said as he pulled out the legendary Dragon Sword.

Team 10 couldn't believe their eyes once they saw the craftsmanship of the divine blade.

"Team 10, focus on the sound mainly but if any Black Spider ninja pose a threat, do your best to defeat them or avoid them. I'll handle them as best as I can. Understand?" Ryu instructed the Ino-Shika-Cho team.

"Right, Sakura…your teammates need you. Tend to them okay?" She asked of her in a kind, caring manner

"Right!" Sakura said, smiling slightly as she looked to see Sasuke emitting more of the purple aura.

Ryu could feel it in his bones. Maybe this is what Orochimaru wants. Whatever the case, it was his job to protect the young ones.

After all they were the future of this world.

Meanwhile…

In the desolate graveyard of the Black Spider Clan stood a tall, young looking man. He stood at Genshin's gravesite and witnessed the majesty of the Blade of the Archfiend.

"I…I can take it…the power will be mine!" He said as he grabbed the blade, seeing it had no power left in it whatsoever.

"…. he lied to me, he used me! Orochimaru, how dare you-!" He was suddenly cut from his shouting as a purple electrical power surge was making a current on the blade

The blade itself formed an outer shell which formed it's own design, that of a snake kind.

"Yes…. now I can birth the new age of the Archfiend. Now the dark times can begin…." Ahkiro said as he began cackling that spurred into maniacal laughter.

"Ryu Hayabusa, your head will be mine!" He shouted, his body formed back into his fiend appearance as he cackled loudly and maniacally.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey all! Back with a new chapter with one on the way soon! It may even come sooner than expected too! X3<strong>_

_**I've been enjoying writing this series so far and I can only hope you guys enjoy it too! ^o^**_

_**Ninpo, Jutsu and Techniques used:**_

_**Konoha Senpū (Leaf Whirlwind)**_

_**Omote Renge (Front Lotus)**_

_**Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf)**_

_**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**_


	8. Ch 8: Boar, Deer, Butterfly & Dragon

Chapter 8: Boar, Deer, Butterfly and Dragon

Ryu stood with Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. His blade held firmly in his hand.

"Ryu, was it? Tell me, who are these other ninja?" Shikamaru asked Ryu casually.

"They're rivals of my clan, the Black Spider Clan. They are known to be some of the deadliest of ninja. However, this faction is working underneath their clan's nose. They have no morals here, no code." Ryu said as some of the Black Spider ninja gave them disgusting looks of bloodlust.

"Ryu Hayabusa. You will die but not before witnessing the slaughtering of these young children! We'll see to it that their blood is on your hands as you die in regret! You have no chan-" The ninja was silenced, Ryu standing before him as he held a his blade down into the chest of the Black Spider ninja.

Ryu then slashed his sword out of his body as he threw several shuriken at the group that he was with. It managed to hit a few and kill two of them; leaving the rest it hit injured.

"Guess there isn't any better way to start a fight." Shikamaru said in his usual cocky demeanor.

"Guys this is suicide! Look at how he moves! We can't keep up with them, we'll get killed even by those sound ninja!" Choji said in fear, trying to leave as Shikamaru kept he still by pulling on his scarf.

"Choji, we have to stick together! I'm sorry for dragging you both into this but we're a three man team." Ino said trying to convince Choji to stay.

"Why don't you let him run away, one less sheep to kill right fatass?" Zaku insulted Choji, Choji snapping from his insult.

Ryu had landed into a defensive stance next to Team 10, the Black Spider ninja looking ready to kill. They didn't want to be hasty after all. They let Ryu take that free hit.

"Shit, he said the taboo word!" Shikamaru thought to himself, a worried expression shown on his face.

"Excuse me…. say that again?" Choji said in a passive aggressive manner.

"I said, you're smart for leaving. Fat. Ass." Zaku said with a small grin on his face.

"…WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A FAT ASS! I'M JUST CHUBBY OKAY?!" Choji yelled out as he exerted his anger with a gust of wind blowing out from his sudden power boost.

"Now this is personal! Let's fight them to the death, you hear?!" Choji said as he pointed at Ino and Shikamaru.

"Great, thanks now we gotta live with this." Shikamaru said looking a bit agitated.

"It won't be for long…" Zaku said as he thought to himself, wanting Sasuke as he was the target.

"Alright Team Ino, let's go! Formation Ino!" Ino started off their standard attack.

"Shika!" Shikamaru added to her formation.

"Cho!" Choji finished their formation, getting ready for their team attack.

Ryu looked back at the team, impressed by their teamwork forming their synchronized attack.

"Now's the time to attack, kill the Dragon Ninja!" Zaku said to his back up, the Black Spider charging towards Ryu's vicinity.

"Allow me to start this off!" Choji said as he formed a hand sign.

"Baika no Jutsu!" Choji said as his body blew up into an expanded state.

"Now for some Taijutsu!" Choji said as his appendages sunk into his clothing, his body forming into a large rolling ball.

The ball managed to send several of the Black Spider ninja flying off which gave Ryu his chance to strike.

Ryu formed his own hand signs and charged his ki.

"Houou Enbu No Jutsu!" Ryu spoke softly to himself, a series of Flame Phoenixes formed from thin air, swarming around and charging down at other Black Spider ninja.

Ryu soon followed it with a dash at an enemy, slashing him twice and performing a horizontal slash. He had critically injured one as he rolled towards another, slashing him twice horizontally, which was followed by a double backflip slash. It raised two ninja in the air, chopping off one of their arms. The one who had his appendage removed fell as Ryu slashed the other one repeatedly in the air; turning him and the ninja upside down and grabbing him, performing the Izuna drop technique. The impact had knocked down several ninja surrounding him.

Choji managed to keep the Black Spider from coming close to his teammates as Shikamaru and Ino prepared for their attack. After rolling around and crushing a few of the ninja, Choji made a circle and turned his attention towards Zaku.

"Now I've got you, Nikudan Sensha!" Choji yelled as he aimed his rolling body at Zaku.

"Heh, you think this'll stop me?! Zankūha!" Zaku yelled out as he lunged his hands at Choji, his airwaves bursting from the inside of his hands.

They kept in place, Choji not moving an inch. Zaku was holing him down, making his airwaves stronger but it worked to no avail. Zaku tried to make it stronger but he couldn't for a good reason.

"Dammit, if I keep this up I'll run out of chakra…. I can't go to excessive either, it could destroy my arms!" He thought to himself only to see Choji jump out of his attack, rolling into the air.

Choji gained momentum from the air as he saw his opportunity to strike, rolling very fast as he thrust his body downwards, aiming down at Zaku. His body gained a ton of momentum from falling down at an angel. Dosu went to go and rescue his teammate from being crushed as Shikamaru came into the frame.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru said as his shadow flawlessly flung itself at Dosu, grabbing him before he could get to Zaku.

Choji slammed down onto Zaku only for Zaku to dodge it barely, making him fall to his hands and knees. Meanwhile Shikamaru was playing with his enemy's movements, smirking, chuckling and taunting him as Kin stared in confusion.

"Ino, I'll leave the girl to you." Shikamaru instructed Ino.

"Right! She said as she formed her clan's specific hand seal.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino spoke as Kin looked at her, suddenly widening her eyes, as she seemed out of it.

Both her and Ino fell over, Shikamaru catching her while keeping Dosu at bay.

Choji continued to charge himself at Zaku, taking out any other Black Spider along the way that got too close to his teammates. Ryu too was busy slaughtering his enemies ruthlessly. He was fast and strong, no one could keep up. Placing his hand on the ground, one of the Black Spider ninja spoke with a demonic tone, speaking words that were not in a human language.

Ryu felt the ground beneath him crack open. He immediately dodged it only to see another. Before he knew it, he was nearly swarmed with them.

"Take this Dragon Ninja!" The ninja spoke as the ground burst up into a stream of fire that shot up immediately.

It seemingly hit Ryu, Shikamaru looking at the damage as well as the other two sound ninja looking in shock. Turning their attention to their goal, Zaku called out Kin; seeing she was hit by something Ino threw at her.

"These new ninja are tough…I've never seen any jutsu this high of caliber." Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Kin!" Zaku shouted at a disoriented Kin.

"What the hell happened to you!" Dosu exclaimed as he saw Kin raised her head up, smirking.

"Sorry guys, party's over!" She said as she held a kunai to her neck.

Dosu and Zaku looked at her in shock, they see that she had been taken over by Ino.

"Drop the scroll and everything will be fine, however one false move will have your teammate's throat cut open. You wouldn't want that now would you?" She said grinning in victory as she saw Zaku and Dosu looking careless about their comrade's safety.

"What the hell…? These guys seem so laid back…" She said as she called over Choji.

Choji had fallen down from above yet again, rolling towards Ino in Kin's body as he planned to ram her. Zaku took this opportunity to use his Decapitating Airwaves to hit both Kin and Choji, causing them to fly off. Kin had hit the trunk of a tree as Choji and fallen over and hit the ground hard.

"Hahaha! Looks like those Sound Ninja got those kids for us, guess all there's left is you Hayabusa!" Said a Black Spider ninja who was blocking Ryu's blade, Ryu holding his blade down firmly, as he seemed to have managed to avoid being burnt by that ninpo.

Ryu looked back to see how they were doing, noticing Choji and Ino both down.

"Those kids…I gotta help them…" Ryu thought as the Black Spider ninja took a jab at his abdomen, grabbing Ryu as he stabbed him multiple times and kicking him off his blade.

Shikamaru looked over and saw Ryu falling over, blood splattered all over. His eyes widened.

Ino, still in Kin's body, took some heavy damage. Her mouth had blood dripping out ion both the borrowed body and her own.

"This is bad…" Shikamaru said as he looked over at Zaku and Dosu.

"What's your problem?! You'd really attack your own teammate?! What kind of monster would do that?!" Ino yelled out through Kin's mouth.

"Monsters like us…you see, we really could care less about the scroll or completing this test. We play by no kind of rules whatsoever." Dosu said as he chuckled slightly.

"Then who's your target?" She asked him, Dosu's expression looking rather crazed.

"Sasuke…" He said as he looked over at the passed out Uchiha, seeing Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation has worn off.

"Shit, I hate it when that happens!" Shikamaru thought to himself, looking around as he saw they were not only out numbered but also nearly defeated.

"I see your paralysis technique has a short duration. About 5 minutes per say. Clever technique. I also noticed your friend can slip her mind and soul into another person's body…however, there is a huge risk as she could die if the body she manipulates dies as well." Dosu inquired and then added about Shikamaru and Ino.

"So what will you do, kill your teammate?" Shikamaru asked, looking nearly hopeless.

"If we gotta, we'll do what we must." Zaku said, keeping his arm and hand pointed at Kin.

Shikamaru had run out of ideas. He looked once more to see Choji down, Ino stuck and Lee beat up. He looked to see how Ryu was only to see several corpses of Black Spider ninja lying around where he was lying. Ryu was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit he left us…dammit, this is such a drag!" Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone.

"You said it…" Choji said while still somewhat dizzy.

"Looks like this is the end for you second rate ninja. You're nothing but some hacks from a second rate village!" Zaku said as they prepared their attack.

"Then I guess that's make your village third rate, right?" A voice spoke from above.

Looking up, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and Sakura saw Lee's team on top of a tree trunk. Neji Hyuga was the one who spoke out as Tenten analyzed the area, spotting Lee downed.

"Looks like he blew it…well, seems some ninja had made my friend into their little punching bag." Neji said as he closed his eyes, looking a bit pissed off.

"Lee…" Tenten said in a concerned tone.

Zaku looked up along with Dosu to see the two genin standing above them.

"It's about time Lee's team got here…" Sakura said to herself as Neji smirked slightly.

"Why don't you leave those guys alone and take on the real deal!"

"These damned genin are popping out like roaches. It's getting annoying." Dosu said to himself, looking up as Neji's eyes formed into a more intensified glare.

"Byakugan!" He shouted as his eyes activated.

Everyone store in shock to Neji, Dosu realizing what his eyes were.

"I know those eyes; those are the Hyuga's Byakugan! He's not just looking at us, he's seeing right through us!" Dosu said as he widened his eyes even more, looking a bit frightened.

"Now Tenten, let's go full power!" Neji commanded Tenten as they got ready.

"Take this you brats!" Dosu said, aiming his device at them only to be stopped by a flash of impact.

Ryu had swooped in and carved his blade deep into the metallic device, making the sound waves blow back at him. The force and impact caused it to suddenly malfunction that made Dosu fly back. The flash of blue rushed over to Shikamaru and Ino's aid.

"Dammit! My device was broken! I"ll kill you, you bastard!" Dosu said before looked shocked yet again.

Ryu stood there, blood soaking his blade as he flung it down, splattering the blood over the ground. He looked up to Neji as Neji and Tenten looked down at him.

"Hey, you. Who are you?" Neji asked Ryu to confirm if he were an ally or enemy.

"I am Ryu Hayabusa. You must be Neji Hyuga. I must skip the formalities, for we have much to focus on." Ryu said simply, readying his blade.

Neji looked at him as if he were offended, giving him a soft glare. He crossed his arms as Tenten had a loving look on her face.

"Tenten? Tenten! What's the matter with you?!" Neji said in a shocked and appalled manner.

"T..That blade…it's craftsmanship is glorious. You said your name was Ryu, right? I'm Tenten!" Tenten said in a somewhat fangirlish manner.

"Tenten, we need to focus!" Neji said as he was stopped from attacking, noticing the shift in chakra.

Ryu too was halted by the mere presence of it.

"Looks like this was already taken care of for me." Neji said to the sound ninja as he smirked slightly.

"Sasuke.." He said as he looked back to see powerful chakra emitting from him.

Within Sasuke's mind, an intern al struggle took place. He witnessed his younger self taunting him and talking about how powerless he was. How he could've saved everybody.

"If only I were stronger…if only I had more power!" Sasuke's memory said as he held his head, looking shocked to see himself loathing his weakness.

Widening his eyes, the younger version of Sasuke looked up at him. He was looking crazed, as if something snapped.

"Instead you just watched them all die…slaughtered like cattle. If only you were stronger…if only you had…more power." Sasuke's memory spoke as it tore off his face, revealing an eye resembling Orochimaru's.

Back in the real world, Sasuke was immediately awoken, purple aura exerting itself fast and powerfully. It nearly made a whirlwind of immense power just by its will alone. Ryu watched in shock, feeling an evil presence within Sasuke. It was the same one he had felt with his encounter with Orochimaru.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said, looking fearful of Sasuke's presence.

"Those markings…they're definitely the cursed seal. What is Orochimaru thinking?!" Dosu thought to himself, looking about as frightened as Zaku was.

Ino too was breath taken by Sasuke's presence, scared to even recognize him as the Sasuke she knew.

"Sakura…who did this to you?" Sasuke said in a dark tone.

His Sharingan was activated, orange glowing markings around his silhouette as they formed into black markings over his face and arm. The purple aura very much emitted strongly from his body.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said yet again, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay, you can tell me. I'm fine, it's just the power flowing through me…to be honest I've never felt better! That man gave me a gift…and made me see my true path.." Sasuke said as he clenched his fist.

Ryu and the rest could only watch as Sasuke developed a darker demeanor than normal, causing everyone to be cautious with him. Ryu especially could not trust Sasuke in this moment but did not want to harm an ally just yet.

"I'm an avenger…my purpose is to eliminate those who threaten and hurt those I care for. Using and obtain as much power as I need, even if I must be consumed by it…even if I must be consumed by evil itself…" Sasuke said, slightly grinning with an intense glare of his Sharingan.

Shikamaru took advantage of the situation and made his way out of the battlefield and behind the bushes with Ino's body.

"How did he even survive? Hell, how did he get this far with that curse mark?!" Dosu thought to himself, looking very cautious and worried.

Ino still as Kin, looked at the situation before being called over by Shikamaru.

"Ino, get back into your body. This is a fight you don't want to get in the middle of!" Shikmaru said in concern.

Nodding, she released the Mind Body Switch as Kin fell over and Ino woke back up in her normal body.

"Now tell me Sakura…who did this to you?" Sasuke asked again, sounding very agitated and angered.

"That'd be me." Zaku said with a cocky grin, looking unmoved by Sasuke's power surge.

Sasuke immediately looked over at Zaku with a death glare, his markings glowing orange again as it spread over his face and body more.

"This changes everything. His power is immense, we can't fight him!" Dosu thought to himself, realizing what they were facing exactly.

"C'mon Dosu, don't be such a wuss!" Zaku said as he put his hands together.

"Don't Zaku, you don't understand!" Dosu said in fear, warning Zaku of what he was up against.

"I'll take them down in one swoop, here!" Zaku yelled out as he pointed his hands at the three of them, Ryu managing to get out of the way.

Ryu then saw whom they were aiming for. Ryu had a feeling Sasuke would be okay but intended to save Naruto and Sakura. He quickly tried to rush over to them to save them.

"Zankūkyokuha!" Zaku said a she performed his strongest technique, the Extreme Decapitating Airwaves.

A large blast of airwaves shot at Sasuke and the rest, Ryu trying to grab Sakura and Naruto only to see them completely vanish. Ryu's eyes widened as he turned to see the large blast headed his way.

Blocking the attack, Ryu got cut into several times as the force of the blast broke his guard and sent him flying and falling over on the ground.

"N-Ngh…" Ryu grunted as the blast was diminished.

Zaku saw no one was to be seen other than Ryu who had severe wounds.

"His wounds…they're healing by themselves. Who is this guy?" Zaku said to himself only to catch Sasuke's presence right next to him.

Sasuke jabbed Zaku against his head and made him fall over hard. Zaku managed to get back up as he realized Sasuke made it out easily.

"His speed is incredible. He managed to save his team in the blink of an eye!" Dosu said as Sasuke formed several hand signs too quick to be read.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Sauke said as multiple fireballs were shot at Zaku.

"Hah, too easy!" Zaku said in a confident manner, blowing away the flames only to see shuriken hidden within them.

"Shit, shuriken!" Zaku exclaimed a she attempted to bloc the oncoming shurikens, taking some damage.

"Quick, Zaku! Get down!" Dosu tried to warnZaku before Sasuke appeared behind him, grabbing Zaku's arms and planting his foot down on his back.

Sasuke had immobilized Zaku for the time being, a sinister smile forming over his lips.

Ryu stared in horror, unable to understand the power surging within Sasuke.

"What is this kid…?" Ryu said, getting up as holding his blade firmly.

Sakura and the rest watched as Sasuke held Zaku in a dangerous and harmful position.

"That can't be Sasuke…he seems so much fierce and darker…it can't be him, can it?" Ino thought to herself.

"You seem rather attached to these arms of yours…. proud of them infact…" Sasuke said with a widened glare and grin.

Zaku looked back at Sasuke in fear, Sasuke pushing down his foot over Zaku's back while pulling on his arms.

"Wait, don't please! What're you doing?!" Zaku pleaded Sasuke, feeling an immense pain growing in his arms.

Pushing his foot down firmly caused Zaku's arms to break along with his spine. Zaku had passed out, twitching as he fell over. He was in shock from the immense pain Sasuke dealt him. All everyone could do was stare in fear. Ryu was looking cautious and remaining calm.

Sasuke then turned his attention to Dosu, his sinister expression making Dosu tremble and fearful of Sasuke's inevitable attack.

"Looks like it's just you. Hopefully you'll make things more interesting than your friend did…" Sasuke said as he slowly approached Dosu.

"Sasuke!" Ryu yelled out to Sasuke, getting his attention.

"You're that Dragon Ninja…. say why don't we slaughter him together? Allow him to feel the purifying burning of vengeance!" Sasuke offered to Ryu.

"Vengeance towards what? These are nothing but low-leveled children! Killing them will only make you feel empty and hungry for more! I'm telling you this now… since I damaged his device, it would be unfair game." Ryu said as he readied his blade.

Sasuke looked pissed. He knew Ryu was ready to fight if he must. Sasuke didn't like being interrupted or lectured.

"How would you know? Unfair game isn't about ill preparation or meeting conditions. It's fighting a defenseless infant with a blade. Seems you assume these guys are children but they're not. They're cold blooded assassins and they deserve to be destroyed!" Sasuke yelled at Ryu, angered by his words.

"…. I will kill you if you attempt to harm this boy. I have no qualms with slaughtering you, even if you are the last of your clan. Clans get wiped out everyday. Make the wise decision." Ryu threatened and warned Sasuke of his consequences.

Sasuke simply continued his approaching of Dosu, prepared to strike.

"This can't be him… the Sasuke I knew wasn't like this! Whoever this is… it isn't him at all. Sasuke…please…" Sakura went over in her head, tear flowing out of her eyes as she got up and ran towards him. She screamed out against his actions with a simple no,

Ryu was put off by Sakura's unexpected actions, trying to stop her from going near Sasuke only to see he had stopped as soon as she hugged him. She was sobbing, begging for him to stop. He looked back with his evil glare, causing her to look fearful.

"Stop…please…no more." Sakura begged Sasuke as Sasuke continued to glare at her.

Until, however, Sasuke's markings receded back into his curse mark, Sasuke falling down onto his rear panting heavily as if he had used up a lot of energy. Ryu was relieved and took a breath, directing his attention to Dosu.

"You're strong Sasuke…too strong in fact." Dosu spoke as he handed out the Earth Scroll.

"We cannot defeat you while you remain this powerful so how about this? Let us go and we'll give you the scroll." Dosu said as he left the scroll on the ground.

He grabbed both Zaku and Kin and carried them on his shoulders. Looking over at Sasuke.

"It seems we underestimated you. You're lucky but next tome consider that luck diminished because next time…we won't run nor shall we hold back." He said as he looked over at Ryu.

"At least we got what we needed to know. However, this Dragon Ninja is still a mystery to us. We'll meet again soon enough…and when we do we'll cut down what truly makes you alive. Your heart…especially since you nearly destroyed my device. You will pay for that." Dosu said as he walked off into the forest, Sasuke and Sakura looking relieved.

"Wait just a minute! Who is this Orochimaru and what did he do to Sasuke?! Why Sasuke?!" Sakura then yelled and asked Dosu.

"Hell if I know, we were just instructed to target him and that's it." Dosu said as he turned back to his path.

"There are a lot of things I don't understand at the moment. Why he sent us to attack someone he bestowed such power onto…and how he survived it in the first place." Dosu said as he walked off into the depth of the forest.

Ryu looked adamant, neither moved nor emotionless. He remained stern as usual. He kept his arms crossed as he was thinking over what had transpired.

"Hey, you guys okay?!" Choji asked them, running over to them with Shikamaru and Ino.

"Ino, watch over Lee while we see if they're okay." Shikamaru asked Ino, Ino nodding as she attended to Lee.

Neji watched from on top of the tree branch. He was surprised to see Sasuke with such enormous power.

"I had no idea the Uchiha were so powerful." Neji said as his eyes trailed over to Ryu who was being checked on by Shikamaru.

"And that Dragon Ninja…Ryu Hayabusa. Just what is he doing in Konoha?" Neji analyzed Ryu, curious to learn more about him.

Tenten on the other seemed to be in love with the weapons master or rather his weapons instead of him.

"Are you okay, man?" Shikamaru said as he looked all over his body, seeing his armor had been nearly torn to shreds, revealing his chest.

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." Ryu replied in a direct manner.

"Are you kidding me? You were hit by several flame jutsus as well as that guy's airwaves. Not to mention you were gutted severely and lying in a pool of your own blood! How the hell are you still alive?" Shikamaru said in confusion and frustration.

"My blood is a rare one. After battle I can use ki and my body's natural healing factor to heal myself from even the most critical damage. Not to mention…" Ryu stopped as his falcon came flying in, landing on his arm as his body became fully healed.

"I was originally going to let this guy watch over you but as soon as Black Spider ninja came in, I had to help." He said as the falcon flew off.

"Well…thanks then. I know it's a drag to have to protect a bunch of defenseless genin." Shikamaru said in a pessimistic manner.

"I was actually impressed. I never once had to protect you. You three did that on your own. You must be the famous Ino-Shika-Cho team." Ryu said with a heartfelt look.

"….Nah, that was our fathers but we're still learning the formation." Shikamaru said as he rested his arms on the back of his head.

"The Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka Clans are still holding strong to this day. They have a promising future in you. Let's save the formalities for now. You and Choji go check on Naruto." Ryu ordered Shikamaru as he nodded, him and Choji rushing to see if he was okay.

"Sakura's in danger…don't worry, I'll protect you…" Naruto said in his sleep, a goofy expression on his face.

"We should kick him awake, this is just embarrassing." Shikamaru said as he looked down at Naruto.

"Can I kick him?" Choji asked, embarrassed for Naruto as well.

"Be my guest." Shikamaru said in a lazy manner.

Ryu then looked over at Sasuke who was looking at his hand intensely.

"What the hell am I?!" He exclaimed in fear, looking concerned about his well-being.

Ryu approached the traumatized Uchiha who was trembling, his hand twitching. He stood before them looking friendly.

"I'm sorry for threatening you but I could not allow you to perform an unjust act. You must understand… if you let power consume you, you become a fiend amongst human beings. Your soul becomes corrupt and your body deteriorates. Trust me, it's always better to refrain from killing unless absolutely necessary." Ryu said a she kneeled down to Sasuke and Sakura's position.

"I…I was not myself. I couldn't control it just felt so…natural. I'm…sorry if I posed a threat to everyone." Sasuke said as he looked down slightly.

Ryu simply shook his head.

"You only posed a threat to your integrity as a Leaf ninja. I wanted to free you from the shackles of hatred. It seems she managed to do that for you. If I were you, I'd keep her close." Ryu said a she got up, attempting to walk off.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sakura yelled to him.

"W-Where are you going?" She said in a scared tone.

"For now I have a meeting and you have a test to finish. Your most dangerous foes seem to be gone for now but be careful. With your teammates waking up, I'm sure you'll manage." Ryu said as he tried to leave once again.

"Hold on! …thank you, Ryu-san." Sakura said as she stood up, looking grateful for him.

"Yeah, thank you. Had you not been here, those other ninja would have made mincemeat out of all of us." Ino said to Ryu as well.

"Yeah man, thanks!" Choji too thanked Ryu.

"Ryu, was it? ….thank you Hayabusa." Sasuke finished the round of thank yous given to him.

Ryu turned his head to see them looking amazed and grateful.

He simply nodded, jumping off into the forest.

Meanwhile, a few moments earlier, Ayane was traveling in the forest alone. She decided it was best to dispatch from ANBU to avoid any suspicions form other villages. In doing so she looked all over for Ryu.

"Ryu-sama, where could you be?" She said as she looked forward and stopped.

She saw Team 8 hiding behind the bushes. They were watching Gaara go up against a team of Rain ninja. She looked to see them analyzing the battle.

"I wonder who these people are and who they're watching." She said as she saw Gaara being bombarded with senbon from several umbrellas thrown into the air. The senbon hit his sand shield, not even scratching him whatsoever.

"So that's how it's done huh?" The Rain ninja said as he discovered Gaara's secret.

"…you wanna make it rain needles, I guess I'll have to make it rain your blood." Gaara said as he gave off a death glare.

Team 8 looked scared, trembling with fear.

"T-This guy is not normal…" Kiba said as Akamaru whimpered softly.

Ayane too was surprised by Gaara's strength. Never before had she seen such power.

"Who is this kid…how is he so powerful?" She said as the Rain ninja looked prepared to attack Gaara.

"Don't take me so lightly!" He said as he charged after him.

Gaara formed a hand sign followed by a gesture of manipulation.

"Sabaku Kyū" Gaara said as his sand wrapped around and immobilized the Rain ninja dead in his tracks.

"N-Ngh…I can't move.." He said, as he looked surprised at this technique.

"You've lost." Kankuro said with a cock grin.

"Sabaku Sōsō" Gaara said in a deadly tone as he took the umbrella, using it to shield himself as the sand crushed the ninja, making his blood literally rain from above.

Team 8 looked horrified as Ayane looked cautious.

The other Rain ninja begged for their lives, even offering their scroll for their lives. Gaara trapped them both within his sand as well, crushing them and killing them mercilessly.

"They felt no pain. Their deaths happened within and instant so the pain could not be felt…" Gaara said emotionlessly as Kankuro got the scroll.

"Well, we should head back to the tower." HE told his other siblings.

"Wait…I'm not done yet." He said as he spotted Team 8 trying to leave the scene.

Ayane drew her daggers, ready to defend and protect them as Gaara appeared bloodlusted.

"I won't let them fall victim to this psychopath…" She said, ready in her battle stance.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Boy was this long XD well I hope you guys like this two-parter (I guess?) and enjoyed reading the intense battles that took place.<strong>_

_**I'm hoping to do more chapters very soon. I thank you all for being so patient with me and reading my story regardless of the wait.**_

_**Thank you so much and Happy Holidays! ^w^**_

_**Ninpo, Jutsu and Techniques used:**_

_**Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)**_

_**Houou Enbu no Jutsu (Art of the Pheonix Flame Dance)**_

_**Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)**_

_**Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)**_

_**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**_

_**Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)**_

_**Byakugan**_

_**Sharingan**_

_**Cursed Seal of Heaven**_

_**Zankūkyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)**_

_**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Pheonix Sage Fire Technique)**_

_**Sabaku Kyū (Sand Binding Coffin)**_

_**Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Waterfall Funeral)**_


	9. Chapter 9: Raging Mountain God!

Chapter 9: Raging Mountain God!

Anko was within the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death. There, she and two of the ANBU members were discussing the issue at hand.

"We have a situation yes but we can't stop this exam." She said as she sat on the couch, her arms crossed.

"What do you mean?" One of the ANBU asked her; surprised she would allow such a thing.

Soon enough a knocking was heard. Opening the door was a Leaf ninja who was carrying in who looked to be Ayane but she looked a bit injured.

"Anko-san! We have an injured ally!" The Leaf ninja alerted Anko as Ayane managed to get out of his grasp and limp into the room.

"I..I'm fine." Ayane said to keep them from worrying about her

"You need medical attention." Anko scolded Ayane for her lack of care for her well-being.

"That's not what matters right now. I have urgent news. It's about that brown haired kid. The one from the Sand." She said as she came closer.

"The Sand boy? Well, if you insist, tell me everything you know." Anko asked of Ayane.

Ayane's expression seemed to be that one of someone who was put into a state of shock. She was adamant towards her conviction and her will as a ninja but she had never seen a boy act as this one did.

**A few hours or so ago…**

"Gaara, let's not waste any time. They're not worth it." Kankuro said to Gaara, wishing to avoid any more conflict with him.

"I'll kill anyone in my path, no matter who they are…" Gaara said in a very cold manner

"You little….!" Kankuro spoke, as he appeared pissed off, trying to hide his fear of his murderous brother.

Gaara simply gave him a death glare, no emotion, no care, just pure hatred.

"If you stand in my way, I'll kill you too." He replied in a very ghoulish tone.

Kankuro, mad and fearful, reacted by grasping Gaara's clothing, acting as his superior.

"You better listen to you older brother you little…!" Kankuro tried to convince Gaara, Gaara remaining unmoved by his actions.

"I never saw you as siblings. I'm merely stuck with you and I'll kill you without hesitation." Gaara spoke as he smacked off Kankuro's hand, releasing his grip.

Temari, looking just as concerned and worried, tried to calm her two brothers down.

"H-Hey, guys clam down. Gaara, please let's forget about those genin and move on. For your older sister, please?" Temari said, her hands raise to show she wanted no trouble.

Hinata looked extremely scared, fearing she would lose her life soon. Kiba too felt worried, trembling, as he brought his friends into this mess. Shino too looked troubled by this, unable to figure out a solution to this.

Gaara put his hand out, pointing it in the direction of Team 8's vicinity. Temari and Kankuro watched, helpless in their attempts to stop Gaara.

"Gaara!" Kankuro yelled as sand formed into his hand.

Gaara was ready to attack, his sand nearing compltetion. Team 8 felt hopeless, unable to accept their demise. Gaara gave them a blood lusted stare, grinning slightly.

"I'll murder every single last person in this world!" Gaara yelled out as he shot out a stream of sand to attack Team 8 with.

"Ninpo: Hajin Shinzan!" A woman's voice appeared from the sky, echoing in the trees and the forest as a woman fell down to come to the aid of the young genin.

She was weaving her hands at a rapid pace, a purple aura forming over her as she landed while slamming her hand down. The ninpo hand made a shock wave of energy, specifically in the general area of Gaara and his sand. The energy itself caused the sand to diminish slightly as well as making the rest fly back.

"What the?!" Kiba said looking over at the mysterius female who protected them.

"Who's she…?" Hinata said softly, feeling relived and grateful.

"Whoever she is, she's giving us a chance to run. We better go before we end up like that Rain ninja and his friends." Shino said as they made an attempt to leave.

"Good, they're leaving. I may not be able to beat this kid right now but I can at least get some information on him by fighting him." Ayane thought to herself, drawing her Fuma Kodachi blades, ready to battle the Sand Siblings.

Temari and Kankuro drew their weapons. Temari opened her large fan, releasing a gust of wind just to give Ayane and idea of her power. Ayane remained still, keeping a calm and collected mindset.

Kankuro released his puppet, his chakra strings attaching to his fingers as he readied himself as well.

"No, she's mine." Gaara said to his sibling, forbidding them from fighting alongside him.

A bit surprised, Ayane took extreme caution. In order to test a theory based on her observations, Ayane tossed one of her kunai at Gaara. Gaara's sand immediately reacted and blocked the oncoming kunai.

"So that's how it works. It's a defense mechanism. Damn, I can't get too close and attack it seems. My ninpo seemed to work but I'm low on ki. I need some time." Ayane said as she looked around for anything to help her out in battle.

Gaara simply store her down, his defensive sand starting to fall over. Ayane was curious of what else she could do to test out her abilities against his.

"Let's see you handle this!" She said as she tossed a barrage pf kunai at him, all of them with purple flower heads on the ends of them.

His protective sand, keeping him from even getting a scratch on his clothing, caught each and every single one. He then slammed his hand on the ground, causing a wave of sand to slither it's way towards her vicinity only to see she has vanished.

His eyes widening, he turned as Ayane appeared from behind him, blocking her incoming dagger attack. She tried twirling to get in a sneak attack only to be caught form there. Caught in his grip, he was aiming to crush her arms but instead wanted to make her suffer. He tried to cover her in his sand but before he could, she make a one handed seal.

"Now!" She said as her kunai, which was still caught in his sand made an explosion.

The explosion created a purple flame and mist that was so powerful it managed to knock even Ayane back. Flying back she was suddenly caught in a wall of sand, the sand forming into bounds on her arms and legs.

As the mist cleared, Temari and Kankuro seemed to be downed but Gaara still remained. His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth gritting and his expression full of bloodlust. She saw his sand had been hardened into a shell that was mostly broken as his face had sand covering were the explosion would've harmed him, full of cracks.

"I'll kill you…I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!" Gaara said with a deadly tone, his face showing a sinister and crazed look.

"This kid…he's insane!" Ayane thought to herself.

"Why don't I pull you apart limb from limb?! Then you'll understand true pain and misery!" Gaara said as he cackled quietly to himself, escalating to a louder maniacal laughter.

Focusing what ki she had left, Ayane charged herself up to perform her technique, Ninja Art: Supreme Deity Quaking Mountain.

"Gaara! This isn't worth it!" Kankuro said, wanting to just get to the tower already and to avoid more casualties.

"Gaara stop! Listen to your siblings!" Temair said, pleading for him to stop.

"You aren't my siblings! You are nothing to me! If you want to live, shut up!" Gaara said as Ayane kept a focused mind.

She was unable to move her arms but that's exactly what she wanted. A person who uses said technique is able to generate energy that can be used to shake even the Heavens and Earth. However if used improperly, the user may get sucked up into the void of energy conjured. She was looking to do somewhat that but to free herself.

"Okay, I got it…" Ayane said as she weaves her wrists in place, generating her ki into her technique that had created an aura surrounding her vicinity.

"You can't escape! I'll tear your into nothingness!" Gaara said as he extended his arms, gesturing his hands to crush Ayane's arms.

"Ninpo: Hajin Shinzan!" Ayane spoke loudly as the aura began to emit itself and the energy began to surface.

However the technique was only done half way. It meant that it was not done improperly but remained safe for her in a way. It was an in-between that caused a psychic energy cluster. The cluster itself began to warp what seemed to be reality itself but this was merely the altercation of the technique. It tried to take her arms first but the energy kept it from taking her whole. Her hands became nearly crushed which allowed her injured hands to slip through the sand as the sand got suck up into the void itself.

"What?! NO!" Gaara said as soon the cluster imploded within itself, causing an energy meltdown within the void.

An earth-shattering explosion had burst from it, injuring Ayane to a degree, which were mainly her arms, legs and torso. Gashes, bruises, cuts and a few broken bones was the minimal damage, at least what she considers minimal.

"Ngh! Damn…that hurt like hell…." Ayane said as the explosion seemed to have cracked Kankuro's puppet, bruising him and Temari up.

Gaara himself had an armor of sand covering his body, cracked and broken, as he looked shocked. Slight blood was dripping from his head.

His expression went from angered and hurt to slowly descending calmness, his sand armor falling off of him. He then formed sand into his extended arms yet again, preparing for an attack.

Ayane, bloodied and injured rose anyways to defend herself. She was ready to fight despite her condition. As sand formed into his hands he placed it all into one ball of sand.

"I…I guess this is it. I'm sorry…Ryu-sama." Ayane asked for forgiveness, regretting her failure.

The sand then formed itself into a cork to which Gaara put into his gourd after retrieving his sand. He stuck it in as he turned around.

"Come. We're heading to the tower." Gaara said as walked past her somewhat harmed siblings, not caring for their safety.

Ayane looked grateful but confused by his sudden actions. Temari and Kankuro got up, them too confused.

"But Gaara, why?" Kankuro asked Gaara, Gaara stopping in his tracks.

"She is not worth the waste of energy. We have other targets. Other plans. She's just someone who happens to be in the wrong place. However, if we come across her again, I will kill her." Gaara said, looking back with a dark look on his face.

Temari and Kankuro merely had an uncomfortable look, siding with their brother regardless of how they felt about him. Soon enough, after taking one last look at Ayane, left with Gaara, they soon faded into the woods. Ayane fell to her knees, grabbing her injured arm and wincing to the pain.

"I…I gotta warn somebody." She said as she tried to make it out of the woods, limping towards the tower.

Afterwards, she was seen crawling towards the tower itself, a Leaf ninja spotting her.

"I need…I need to tell you something…" Ayane said weakly to the ninja who rushed to her aid.

"Careful, what happened? Who are you?" He asked her, holding her still.

"Just…take me to whoever is here, please…" Ayane said as the Leaf ninja stood her up, carrying her inside.

"You're lucky I was out here. Anko had sent me to retrieve a video tape recording. Apparently those Sand ninja made it here just a few hours ago which is unusual. They broke the record from a few years ago." He said as Ayane had a realization.

"T-That's who did this to me. I need to speak with her, please. I have urgent information to give her. I'm lucky to even be alive." She said as she coughed up a bit of blood.

"You need to see a Medical Ninja!" The Leaf shinobi suggested.

"No, I'll be okay. I need to see Anko first." She said as she tried to stand up on her own, limping out of his grasp.

Back to present time

"I see…so this kid. He isn't normal. He has an unusual affinity and ability with sand." Anko said, thinking things over.

"Anko-sama, you might wanna see this." The Leaf ninja said, rewinding the tape and letting it replay over and over.

"Notice the time. I noticed it when retrieving the footage. They…" Anko immediately cut him off.

"They broke the record and in an unusual amount of time. That's strange…but do you see the other unusual thing about this?" Anko said as she went to go look out the window.

Repeating the footage, the ninja and ANBU analyzed the image to see anything looking strange or unusual. They couldn't see what she could see or at least weren't looking at the right place.

"I don't see it Anko-san.\, what is it?" The Leaf ninja asked, repeating the footage some more.

"Look at him, his clothing his skin. He doesn't have a single cut or scratch on him. His clothing has not even a spec of dirt on it. He remains unharmed. If Ayane is telling us the truth then that means that this child is something far greater than we imagined. We need to be cautious with him." Anko said, Ayane looking a bit weak as she sat down.

Meanwhile, Team 8 had made it to the tower second. They were in the resting area, looking around.

"Man, that was close." Kiba said, comforting Akamaru in his jacket.

"If it hadn't been for that woman, we would have died. She saved us." Shino said as he sat down momentarily.

"I'll say. At least we made it." Kiba said in victory and relaxation.

"Y-Yes…I'm glad we're all safe." Hinata agreed with Kiba, trying to remain unfazed by what they had encounter.

"Heh, sometimes you go overboard Gaara. You never know when to quit." Spoke a familiar voice from the hallway.

"I don't care." Replied another familiar voice, the same tones used previously.

Team 8 all soon widened their eyes, realizing who it was. Upon realization, the Sand siblings had entered the room, walking and talking quite casually, Gaara remaining as demented as ever. They looked at Team 8 upon passing by them, obviously recognizing them as they merely gave them a look.

"Man…that guy gives me the creeps." Kiba said quietly as the siblings went into the next room.

"You think anyone else will make it?" Kiba then asked as he looked back to his teammates.

"Possibly, since that maniac is here and not out there. Then again, anything could happen." Shino replied and concurred with his fellow teammate Kiba.

"Naruto-kun…I hope you're alright. I know you'll make it back!" Hinata thought to herself, keeping her hopes high for Naruto.

Ryu had returned to the village. He wanted to get a change of clothing as well as gear up in case another incident occurs. He switched into his Legendary Black Falcon gear, arming himself with a bow and arrow, shuriken and some kunai. As for weapons, Ryu kept his Dragon Sword but put away the Falcon's Talons. He instead replaced it with his Kusari-Gama. As for the rest, he placed a sealing jutsu on them so he can summon them whaever he needs them.

"There." Ryu said as a pulsating feeling stopped him.

He felt an evil energy coming miles away. He didn't know who it was at first until he suddenly recognized the power itself.

"Akhiro…what has he done? This power is overwhelming. No, it can't be him…it can't be." Ryu said as he put his mask and forehead protector on.

As he left, the dark power's presence had vanished. Could Akhiro be trying to fool Ryu, possibly to throw him off? Regardless, Ryu didn't want to compromise his mission nor the safety of this village.

"Ahh, Ryu! It had no idea you'd be back so soon!" An elderly man spoke to him as he turned to find Muramasa.

Muramasa was standing besides Hiruzen, waiting for Ryu's arrival. Hiruzen had commissioned and helped Muramasa set up his shop in Konohagakure.

Approaching him as he looked surprised to see him.

"Murmasa. Hokage-sama. What are you doing here?" Ryu asked the two, especially Muramasa.

"Where a Dragon Ninja goes, a craftsman can follow. I came to give you something. I also have a message from your father." Muramasa said, giving him not only a hand written letter but and Omusubi and a new crafted blade.

"It's new so it may be hard to learn. It's thinner and razor edged. I call it, the Falcon's Blade. It's best use when combined with the Dragon Sword. The compatibility is unique, similar to the Blade of the Archfiend pairing, which allows you to deal much more damage." Muramasa said, the items being taken by Ryu.

"Thank you, as for the letter…." Ryu said as he opened the letter and began reading.

It read as such:

"Ryu. I've decided to come to the village as guest for the Chunin Exams. I'm sorry for the sudden decision. I had heard that the children had been harmed and that you were forced to go through the mission using another tactic. I've taken it upon myself to aid you in this time of crisis. I'm coming to get an insight on information using my position. I'm feeling much better and will not reconsider my decision. You've truly grown and have become a superior ninja. I am proud of you. Your mother would be proud too."

"I see. I take it you informed my father early on, Hokage-sama?" Ryu asked, assuming what sounded most logical.

"Yes I did. However, I need you to come with me. We are headed to the tower in the Forest of Death. There, we are to discuss the matters with Orochimaru." Sarutobi said with a serious tone.

Nodding, Ryu agreed to it as he looked over at Muramasa.

"Thank you, Muramasa. I'll be sure to come visit sometime if I need improvement or repairs." He said as he gave him some money that was given to him the day before.

"Ryu…I cannot take this. I can manage on my own!" Muramsa insisted as Ryu shook his head.

"It is mine to give. It's my gift for all your help. It isn't much but it's enough to enjoy a meal." He said smiling slightly underneath his mask.

Muramasa smiled happily, grateful to Ryu for such a generous offer.

Soon enough, he and Hiruzen set off on a journey to the tower.

As time passed, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had managed to wake up. A man they had met earlier named Kabuto gave them help. He helped them traverse the forest as well as fight off a ninja team who trapped them in an illusionary state.

By the morning, Team 7 made it to the tower with both Heaven and Earth scrolls.

"Thank you Kabuto! We really would have been lost without you." Sakura thanked Kabuto, as she felt grateful for his help.

"Yeah! Yeah! We would have been toast if we opened those scrolls!" Naruto added, him too feeling extremely grateful.

"It was my pleasure. Now that we've passed, I guess we'll be seeing each other in the next portion of the tournament. Good luck!" Kabuto said very kindly, smiling as he adjusted his glasses.

"You too. I'll look forward to seeing you in action again, hopefully." Sasuke said casually while showing his gratitude.

Naruto opened the double doors, tearing the paper seal, as they all entered the room, Kabuto doing the same. Entering, they saw what appeared to be an empty room. No one was around at all.

For Kabuto on the other hand, he and his teammates had some company.

"So, how did it go?" A ghoulish voice asked Kabuto.

"It went better than I expected. I got all the information I could on him. I've even written it down. Is this what you want?" Kabuto said, holding up an info card.

"So, what did you think?" Said the mysterious man, taking the card.

"You're quite fond of him, aren't you Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked, seeing his interest as an obsession.

"As a spy from the Village of the Sound, I truly want your opinion on him." Orochimaru said, looking at the card as he leaned against the wall.

"You will determine everything. Having my opinion is pointless." Kabuto spoke as he adjusted his glasses, revealing his sinister eyes paired with a small grin.

"Ahh Kabuto, that's what I like about you. Your cunningness." He said, disappearing within a gust of wind.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Heyo! Another chapter here! I hope you all like this one. It's not as action packed as the last but it's definitely progressing! w I'm liking where this is going so far.<strong>_

_**Ninpo, Jutsu and Techniques used:**_

_**Ninpo: Hajin Shinzan (Ninja Art: Supreme Deity Quaking Mountain)**_


	10. Chapter 10: A Snake in the Grass

Chapter 10: A Snake in the Grass

"So, that is the situation. This is most troubling indeed." Hiruzen said, noticing Anko grabbing onto her cursed seal in minor pain.

"Is your cursed seal still hurting?" He asked her as she took a breath of relief.

"Not as much thanks to you Lord Third. About Orochimaru…" She tried to redirect the conversation to more pressing matters.

Lord Third walked over towards the window, looking out into the forest surrounding them. He was thinking over things about Orochimaru and why he may have returned.

"It is definitely a problem but we will still continue the exams. We'll just have to search for him at the same time." The Third Hokage said, looking at the ANBU ninja.

"Lord Third, is that a wise thing to do? I mean it could be dangerous." One of the ANBU men said in concern to his idea.

"Yes, even then we don't know what Orochimaru's looking for. Why he could possibly be here." The other one said, stopping his mouth as the door opened.

"We know a little bit of what he plans. However it could very well be a diversion towards his real ambitions." Spoke the Dragon Ninja as everyone turned to his direction, Ryu leaning against the closed door with his arms closed.

"Ryu-san…" Anko said, happy to see he was all right.

"Anko encountered him a few days ago. She was told something involving the Uchiha child. Am I correct?" Ryu asked Anko in a serious manner.

She nodded, explaining what happened in her encounter with Orochimaru. She had told them he had marked Sasuke, worried that he may be in danger.

"I see. I'll have Kakashi deal with that then. In the meantime, Ryu I want you to do something for me." Hiruzen asked of Ryu's help.

"Anything that will help." Ryu replied in a simple manner.

"I wish for you to help oversee the exams. It will make the appearance of your father a bit more obvious than abrupt, plus I'll need you to search around. I'll send you to lead my ANBU in small investigations if anything appears suspicious. Is that alright?" Lord Third asked Ryu, knowing he'd agree to it.

"On one condition, if I'm spotted by the enemy, the Anbu must attack me as their enemy. I can't afford to compromise my mission and they have to aim to kill me. As for me, I won't kill them but I'll fight back if needed." Ryu said, demanding such a shocking request.

"We can't do that to an ally! How do you figure that would work?!" Asked one of the ANBU.

"Black Spider Ninja are swarming the area. They know my legacy, name and overall strength. They don't know of my ties. If they're convinced, Orochimaru is convinced at least slightly. If the Sand are involved, I doubt they'll be notified but it's safer to act accordingly than to risk everything." Ryu replied calmly as he turned his attention to the ANBU ninja.

"Trust my word, I won't allow your village to fall to evil." He finished, unfolding his hands as he went to see the live feed of the security cameras.

He had seen that most of the young Leaf genin had made it safely to the tower. He was impressed to say the least, especially since they had their own troubles with the Sound ninja previously.

"By the way, how's Ayane doing? I was surprised to hear she was injured protecting a few genin." He asked, continuing with his flattery towards her abilities.

"She's fine. We had her transferred to the hospital. We would have waited for you Hayabusa-kun but her injuries were to severe to wait for." Anko said as she got up and approached a semeingy distraught Ryu.

"Good. Now, there is one more thing you need warning of. A rogue Black Spider ninja leading a faction of Black Spiders without permission from their superiors. His name is Akhiro and he has been bestowed power by Orochimaru. He seems to be convinced he will become as powerful as Genshin. Orochimaru has the Sound Village and the Black Spider Clan at his disposal. We must remain adamant yet cautious." Ryu inquired soon after, feeling another shockwave pulse of dark energy.

He widened his eyes and gripped his side, leaning against the wall with his other hand. He was softly grunting and groaning as he trembled.

"Ryu-kun!" Anko shouted in fear he was in pain.

"It's that strange energy again. Ngh…it feels like Akhiro but it's too immense to be his." He said as he returned to normal, the feeling slowly fading again.

"Hm…. these are difficult times. We'll see to it Ayane is taken care of. When the final portion of the exams takes place, they are all free to watch as they please. Think of it as a way to relax." Hiruzen said as he offered comfort for Ryu's loved ones.

Nodding, Ryu then went to go lean against the wall. He looked at the monitor and noticed Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were all at the tower as well. He smiled underneath his mask; glad to know they too made it safely.

"It seems everyone has made it." Anko said in a happy tone, hearing one of their Leaf ninja calling out to them and letting them know the second portion of the exam has finished.

In the lower levels of the tower, Team 7 searched around the room for any guidance or hints to what they must do next. While searching, Sasuke had found a sign on the wall.

"Maybe that's out next clue. Let's see…" Sasuke said as he closely examined the writing on the wall.

Sakura did as well, Naruto remaining confused as usually. Upon reading it, Sakura spoke outloud to try and solve what appeared to be a riddle.

"If you do not posses Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not posses Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. Huh…" Sakura said to herself, as well as her teammates, as she noticed one of the letters was partially written in, missing a few symbols.

"Huh? There's a symbol missing in the letter. I wonder what that means?" She said as Sasuke observed it as well.

"Maybe we'll learn more about it if we open both the scrolls at the same time." Sasuke concluded, seeing no other way of knowing what it all meant.

"But are you sure? I mean what if something bad happens?!" Naruto said, rather worried since he nearly made the same mistake during the second portion of the exam.

He remembered Kabuto coming in to stop him from opening the scroll itself.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Breaking the rules has serious consequences." The gray haired man with glasses spoke to Naruto and Sakura, giving them helpful advice.

They both turned to him as they saw Sasuke had returned with water. Sasuke was surprised and disappointed slightly in Naruto and Sakura but he knew it couldn't be helped that they'd go this far just to win.

"It's you! Why did you stop us from opening the scroll if it benefits you if we fail?" Naruto asked, curious on his sudden motivations.

"I don't really know myself. I guess seeing younger genin like you made me want to help. In any case, there is a reason why you shouldn't open the scroll. You see, in the last tournament, the penalty for opening a scroll before making it to the tower resulted in an illusionary jutsu that would be casted on the ones who looked into the writing. It would not wear off until the end of the exam, resulting in a team's failure." Kabuto explained as he felt a nearby presence, remaining calm about it.

"I see, so where's your team?" Sasuke asked him curiously.

"I seemed to have lost them along the way. I happened to come across these two just in time while I was looking for them." He said as he took out the scrolls.

"And as proof I'm not tricking you, let me show you my scrolls." He said, pulling out both the Heaven and Earth scrolls.

"Anyways, I"ll be on my way." Kabuto said, storing the scrolls back into his pouch, attempting to leave.

"Wait! Fight us." Sasuke said, immediately taking action.

"You can't be serious." Kabuto said, looking confused by the young Uchiha's rather irrational actions.

"I am. We fight for your scroll since our last one got burnt." Sasuke directly came out with his intentions as he and Kabuto store down at each other.

"Sasuke, we can't I mean he helped us out and all!" Sakura said, trying to stop Sasuke from making any bad decisions.

"I can do better than that. How about I help you obtain another scroll? Even then, it's best to leave this area. The smoke carries the smell of cooked fish, someone's bound to pick up on it and come near here." Kabuto said as he looked back, smirking at the enemy's retreat.

"Yeah, yeah that's a great idea! Come on Sasuke, he'll be a great help no doubt!" Naruto said, seeing a way to avoid conflict with an experienced ninja like Kabuto.

"The best way to obtain another scroll is to wait near the tower itself. Near the end of the exams, more teams will be drawn out but just because the tower is near doesn't mean you're exactly safe." Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses.

"So what you're saying is we take the scroll we need from a team we encounter as we'll have a better tactical advantage. It isn't a bad idea." Sasuke said, as he seemed to have agreed to take Kabuto's aid.

"Exaclty. Plus, joining you would make it less of a hassle since I lost my other teammates. It'll be beneficial to us both."

Looking up, Kabuto noticed the sun was close to setting.

"We better get going then, we only have a few says left." He replied as he soon led Team 7 out of the woods.

Back in the present, Naruto felt nervous about opening it. He and Sakura both took a scroll. They both prepared to open the scroll and endure whatever may come. As they slowly opened the scrolls, they noticed something written before the scripture itself.

"Naruto, Sakura those are summoning signs! Quick, throw it away!" Sasuke immediately recognized the sign as it began to set off a summoning.

They tossed it away as smoke eventually blew up from it. They all prepared for an assault before realizing that the one who was summoned was none other than Iruka, their Academy teacher.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said in confusion, Sasuke and Sakura too curious on why he was there.

"Well, I guess it's time to congratulate you all on your hard work and effort. I knew you'd make it this far. Welcome to the third stage of the Chunin exams." Iruka said with a smile.

In the outskirts of the forest, Orochimaru was meeting with another ally in his plans against the leaf.

"I told you I could offer you power beyond the limits. I take it that is the Blade of the Archfiend, is it not?" He asked his ally Akhiro.

"Yes… Genshin used it in the resurrection of the Archfiend Vazdah but with Vazdah's defeat, the power had been sealed away." Akhiro said as he looked at his newly modified weapon of pure evil.

"My experiments have proven to be useful to you. I have researched the Dragon Clan for a very long time. My focus of course is on the Uchiha but the Hayabusa Clan proves to be just as intriguing. However, my lack of interest is due to their inability to live long, immortal lives. The Uchiha have abilities far greater than any modern day ninja and it may be the key to immortality itself." Orochimaru explained to Akhiro, revealing one of his truer intentions.

"So is that why you wanted the boy. How will you manage to use his eye without being severely damaged?" Akhiro asked in reply to Orochimaru's explanation.

"Simple. I want to take his body. With his body I'll be unstoppable." He said as he cackled slightly to himself.

"I suggest you get into gear and appear in human form. You'll be attending the final exam after this third one. Until then, do as you please~" Orochimaru followed with, snickering at his own schemes.

With a gust of dark energy, Akhiro vanished into darkness and then into complete nothingness. Orochimaru too had flickered away.

After awhile, all the genin teams who passed were gathered in the area hall. There stood the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Leaf ninja guards next to him. Team leaders Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Baki from the Sand and the unnamed Sound team leader, secretly Orochimaru in disguise, all stood behind Lord Third. Besides Hiruzen were also Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, some of Lord Third's most trusted men and helpers of this year's exam along with Ibiki Morino, the first proctor in the written portion of the exam. Iruka also appeared to be present on Lord Third's right side along with Ibiki.

"Alright everyone. Listen up! We need full attention form everybody here! First off I wanna congratulate each and every one of you!" Anko spoke clearly and firmly into the microphone she had over her ear.

"Heh, told them I'd reduce half of the participants~!" Anko said, a gentle smirk crawling over her face.

Ryu himself stood behind but near Hiruzen and Anko, his helmet removed for the time being. He had his arms crossed as he looked over the passing teams and their leaders. From there he spotted Gaara and his siblings, observing them, as they appeared to be bored and annoyed by the wait. After looking at them, Ryu turned his attention to Team Dosu, noticing Dosu himself had fixed his device within the last few days since Ryu destroyed it.

"Gah!"

"My device! I'll make you pay for that!"

"Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky…"

Those were just some of the memories Ryu recalled from a simple glance at them. Moments afterwards, Ryu's attention was drawn too the Sound ninja leader. Merely looking into his eyes, Ryu easily knew who he was. It made Ryu glare down at him as he looked back, smirking with a slight grin.

"That's must be him…but why would he risk being caught? Then again, it is a clever disguise and no one has caught onto him just yet." Ryu thought to himself as Anko was signaling him.

"Hey, is everything okay? You looked bothered." Anko asked with deep concern for Ryu's well being.

"Yeah. Just surprised to see the genin who made it. They're all so new and young. They definitely earned the right to be here." Ryu whispered back over to her.

"I know! It's so exciting to see fresh meat join our ranks, especially so many of our own!" She softly exclaimed in glee.

Nodding, Ryu let out a soft chuckle as he gave off a friendly smile.

After their friendly conversation, Anko spoke once again in the microphone.

"We will now give an explanation of this exam! Hokage-sama, if you please?" Anko said as she backed back into the row of ninja on Hiruzen's left side.

Clearing his throat, he let out a few coughs, which was normal for a man his age.

"Yes. As you know, this is the third exam but before I give an explanation on this exam, I must make something very clear to you all." Lord Third spoke to the young ninja very firmly, serious about his words.

"Hm?" Most of the ninja thought especially Sakura who was unaware of the true intentions of this exam.

"There is a true purpose to this exam which will be tested. It is why we do joint exams with different villages." He continued as the rest paid attention to his wise words.

"The words "To maintain good relations with allied nations" and "Heighten the level of ninja". Do not let such words deceive you today. This, "exam", so to say… this exam, it is the epitome of war between allied nations." Lord Hokage spoke with a clear distinct tone.

The genin were shocked to hear such a shocking thing be said by their loving leader. The pure confusion of why they were misled was enough to boggle their minds but to be given a dose of the reality of the exam was nearly frightening.

"If we look back into history, the allied nations were neighboring countries who had waged many wars against one another, battling for control, power or even blood. To avoid such conflicts and wasting military power, those countries chose a place to fight. That is where the Chunin Selection Exam was born." Hiruzen educated the young ninja on the reality of the foundation they rest on.

As ninja, each and every chunin and jonin knew this perfectly and clearly. Especially Ryu, who had to test himself by participating in intense training since he was a child; desensitizing him to a near emotionless state. He was brutal and ruthless in his executions. He even once participated in the chunin exams at a very young age, not for ranking but as a test of valor. He passed with perfect scores, even setting the record for the forest that the Sand Siblings had broken.

Perhaps that's why the Sand Siblings had caught his eye, despite them injuring four of is loved ones.

"But wait! Why are we doing this if we're not selecting Chunin?!" Naruto said, just as much in critical shock as the rest.

"You are mistaken. This exam is indeed to see who is worthy of the title of chunin. However, as much as that is true, it is also a place where ninja represent their country and village. Essentially, to carry out their country's dignity and pride by fighting one another." Hiruzen replied to Naruto's outburst, explaining carefully and calmly.

Everyone remained confused by what he meant, not understanding why they would do such a thing to young ninja.

"Now speaking will be one of our allies and potential clients one day, Master Ninja Ryu Hayabusa." Hiruzen introduced Ryu to explain exactly what the chunin exams are for and what they mean to a village.

Approaching the spot Hiruzen stood on, Ryu looked at all the genin and took a breath.

"The point of this exam is exactly as Hokage-sama pointed out with me. He called me a potential client. This world is filled with ninja but there are also normal people living every day lives. This exam will be inviting Feudal Lords, potential clients and many other famous people to assert one nation's power. If a village shows more power than some, that village just may become economically boosted from the work they will receive. Unlike my clan, most villages strive for work. However, being a ninja is more than just work itself. It's about serving your kinsmen and your brethren. There will always be evil approaching, wishing to end the world of ninja." Ryu spoke directly in a clear tone, his voice loud enough to be heard without him having to shout.

The genin listened to him as they saw him as someone who was, for lack of a better word, inspirational. Not exactly that but they knew he was a man of pride and honor. Something like that cannot be ignored. What's more is that he presented himself as someone who saw honor and pride as important but didn't boast. For that, high respect was earned immediately from most of the genin. Team Dosu and the Sand Siblings however saw him as an enemy and a threat but remained adamant for the time being.

"With economic structure, military power increases as does the village; pressuring rivaling villages big or small. With weakness shown, only fewer jobs will come up. As mentioned before, economic structure is key, however if focused only on money, the point of the ninja is no more than the point of any rogue. We ninja are something to the world. Warriors who settle conflict, peacekeepers and most of all, we are proud to carry our duty with honor." Ryu continued as he finished, being yelled at aggressively by Kiba.

"Hey, hey! Why do we have to fight them at the risk of losing our lives?!" Kiba shouted in an ungrateful manner.

"….." Ryu was silent, merely staring at Kiba; who saw him as a hack.

Ryu stopped talking as he did his part in explaining. Ryu was not angered by Kiba's lack of understanding but he did not accept his thought process. It was true that a ninja's life is deemed expendable to which it makes one feel insignificant but that is the life of a ninja. He knew Kiba was just young so he couldn't hold it against him in any way. Hell, he wouldn't hold it against anyone. Life is valuable and even taking a life is a cursed path in itself.

Kiba was also jealous of Ryu's stature and charisma. Ryu did not pay attention to some of the young girls his presence had swoon over, namely Ino and Sakura though they didn't consider him over Sasuke.

"A country's true power is in it's village, a villages true power is in it's ninja and a ninja's true power comes out in life-or-death situations. As Ryu-sama explained, carrying out the duty of the ninja is a country and village's pride and honor; doing this here will show off the village's ninja power. In doing such, having a battle where your life's on the line has meaning. Because of such, your predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in this exam." Lord Third replied in Ryu's place since Ryu did his part.

"But why do you say it's to promote good relations?" Tenten said in confusion with what they had been telling all of them.

"I told you not to get those confused with this. Good relations stem from shaving one's life and fighting to maintain balance. In the world of ninja, this is what's deemed good relations. This is a fight for your dreams and village's dignity!" Hiruzen said as he finished explaining what the chunin exams truly were.

Ryu stepped back slightly, crossing his arms as Anko leaned towards him.

"Hey! You did great! Guess what they say about you is true!" She silently praised him, Ryu looking embarrassed by her compliments with his normal look.

"Thank you…but as ninja, it's our job to bestow the next generation with the truth of our kind. Without it, they have no meaning as ninja." Ryu explained, somewhat dismissing Anko's praise to which she reacted in a comical fashion.

"I think I understand now." Naruto said, smiling in a cocky manner as he had his arms crossed with a proud demeanor.

"…I don't care. Get on with the explanation of this exam." Gaara said harshly, uncaring for ninja pride.

Nodding, Hiruzen continued onto the explanation of the third exam itself.

"Yes, I will explain this portion, but…" He said, coughing slightly as a Leaf ninja appeared in front of Hiruzen and the genin.

"Hokage-sama, allow I, Hayate Gekkō, to explain seeing as I am the judge." Hayate appeared, speaking to and for the Hokage.

Upon appearance, Ryu had remembered him. He used to train with him in his youth. He and Hayate used to practice their sword skills as well as their Bukijutsu and Kenjutsu. It was then Ryu had learned to use the Hayabusa Ultimate Technique within his blade.

Hayate saw Ryu, recognizing him as well. However, he could not blow his cover. He knew the dangers of this operation and decided to remain quiet. Ryu noticed his recognition in response, Hayate smiling slightly since it had been years since he last saw him.

Turning to the genin, Hayate appeared with baggy eyes with a slight cough.

"What's up with this guy…?" Sakura thought, unsure on how to feel with him.

"Before the exam, there's something I want you all to do." Hayate spoke to the genin, coughing a bit more.

The genin looked in curiosity on what he was going to say.

"Uhh…fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle." Hayate spoke as he surprised most of the genin.

"What do you mean preliminary?!" Shikamaru said in a rather pissed off manner.

"But I don't understand! Why not just start the Third Exam with the remaining examinees?" Sakura asked Hayate, unsure of all of this.

"Perhaps it's because the first two exams were too easy I guess. I dunno… all I can say is, there are too many examinees left. According to the Chunin Regulations, we need to decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam." Hayate explained while acting rather laid back.

"What do you mean?!" Sakura said, still confused on the matter.

"As previously mentioned by the Hokage, there will be many guests coming to the Third Exam. We can't have too many matches." He said in reply to Sakura's confused plea.

Sakura acted worried, afraid that she may not make it.

"Since we're limited on ti-" Hayate was cut off by his cough.

"Are you okay..?" Ino thought to herself.

"You seem rather sick sensei…" Hinata spoke in her head, looking as worried as ever.

"Sorry. Anyways, due to time constraints, if any of you wish to quit after the explaination please let me know. The preliminary matches will begin immediately." He said in his laid back tone.

"Immediately?!" Kiba said in a fit of rage.

"But we JUST got through the Second Exam…" Ino complained and pouted slightly.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru said, sighing in annoyance.

"But…what about my meal?" Chouji said after his two friends, remaining hungry as usual.

"I need to be ready…I don't want to let Kabuto-san down after all!" Naruto thought as he clenched his fist, gulping as he prepared for the unexpected match ups.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. These will be one-on-one matches. Please withdraw if you wish." Hayate added, making sure they were ready or not.

Orochimaru grinned slightly, lookingat Sasuke as Sasuke seemed to be ready to fight.

"There's no way I'm withdrawing…n-ngh?! The time intervals between the pains are getting shorter…" Sasuke thought to himself as he reached over to his curse seal, gripping his shoulder and trying to not to grunt too loud.

Ryu looked over to see Sasuke in pain from his curse mark, looking back at Orochimaru. He wa snow sure of Orochimaru's presence as the Sound Ninja leader. He decided to wait however, wanting to keep himself under cover.

"Just as I thought." Hiruzen said to Anko and Ibiki, Ryu hearing their words as well.

"It seems the mark is starting to worsen." Ryu added, seeing how they'll decide to handle it.

"What should we do?" Ibiki asked in a concerned manner.

"We should take him out of the exams, isolated with ANBU escorts." Anko said as Ryu stopped her.

"That may not be a good idea, nor will it matter. Sasuke is hard on hearing after all." Ryu spoke before being followed by Anko.

"We should still advise him to withdraw immediately and…-" Kakashi cut Anko off immediately.

"He's not the type to listen so easily. He is an Uchiha after all." Kakashi said as he approached them, keeping a smiling face for them to see.

"Shut it! This isn't a joke! I'll take him out even if I must use force! The curse is activated when he tries to mold chakra, trying to draw and extract power out of him!" Anko exclaimed, seemingly angered by Kakashi's casual take on it.

"This curse…it's a forbidden technique which undermines who ever is affected by it!" She continued, touching her own curse mark.

"I'm still surprised he's withstanding this long…" She said as she looked back at him, worried for his well-being and safety.

"A normal person would already be dead…please, Hokage-sama!" Anko pleaded Lord Third to withdraw Sasuke.

Ryu could tell Anko was worried; old feelings can sometimes cloud judgment. He wouldn't know how much of a burden a curse truly was yet. That story will remain as it is, in the future. For now, Ryu kept his focus on the matter at hand. He knew keeping him in the preliminary may just be a risk but on the other hand, isolation would only be serving him to the enemy without second thought.

"Excuse me?" Kabuto spoke, interrupting the dramatic tension going about.

Naruto and the rest looked onto him, surprised to see him raise his hand.

"I'll quit now." He spoke very bluntly.

"Eh?! Why?" Naruto said as Kabuto waited to hear form Hayate.

"Hm..who were you again? Let's see…Konoha's Kabuto Yakushi? Alright then, you may leave." Hayate rpelied as Kabuto lowered his hands, turning around and beginning to leave.

"Kabuto-san! Why are you withdrawing?!" Naruto asked him, confused as to why a great ninja like him was quitting.

"Sorry Naruto but my body is all worn out. Even when I had that quarrel with the Sound guy, I became disoriented. I couldn't even hear out of my left ear. I can't fight at this point, especially in a life-or-death situation like this." Kabuto explained to an appalled Naruto.

Hiruzen and the rest watched as Kabuto spoke to a disappointed Naruto. Hiruzen, who believed to have recognized him somewhat.

"I've seen that man a few times. I believe he dropped out of the Main Exam last time too. What's he thinking?" Hiruzen spoke out to his ninja, curious on his sudden drop out.

"Anko." Ibiki signaled her.

"Right!" She said as she looked into the documents, searching for Kabuto.

"It seems he's failed six times in a row. His name is Kabuto Yakushi." Anko spoke, reading the data they had on him.

"What about his personal history?" He asked of Anko.

"He never stood out in his class and had normal grades. He passed on his third try. He currently has done tow C-rank missions and 14 D-rank missions. No outstanding accomplishments whatsoever. But…there is something strange here." Anko said as Hiruzen looked curious and concerned.

"It's about before he joined the Academy…do you remember the story of the boy who was brought here form the battle at Kikyo Pass?" Anko asked Lord Third.

"Yes…a medical jonin had brought an enemy's child who wa sleft on the battlefield. You mean to say he is that boy?" Hiruzen asked, understanding who Kabuto may be.

"Don't act on your own…remember our orders." Kabuto's teammate Yoroi spoke to him quietly.

"I'll leave it in your hands. You'll do fine considering your special abilities..." Kabuto spoke back quietly, softly smirking towards him.

While they discussed the one who was leaving, Ryu was observing Kabuto form afar. He noticed him talking to his teammates and could tell something was not right about them. They remained off and unknown even to their village. As much ninja as there are, no ninja truly goes unknown.

"What could they be hiding…?" Ryu said to himself, glaring down at them slightly as he turned to see Orochimaru grinning as usual.

Before he knew it, it hit him.

"Wait…could he..?! He must! How else could Orochimaru get information so easily? Then again…he may just be acitng on his own accord but he remains hesitant to his team. They are acting under somebody's orders it seems... and I'll find out who…" Ryu thought to himself as he looked over.

Kabuto had left, seeing it as a loss that he cannot fight against Naruto or Sasuke but he had felt he had gathered enough information for Orochimaru.

Upon leaving, Hayate spoke once again.

"May I assume no one else is going to withdraw?" He asked the genin, seeing if there were any quitters left.

Sakura looked torn, unable to restrain herself form getting Sasuke help. She tried to raise her hand only for Sasuke to grab it and hold it down.

"Don't tell anybody about this bruise…!" Sasuke said in slight frustration and pain.

"Why are you doing this? Acting so tough? I don't want to see you suffer anymore…I.." She tried to beg him only to be stopped by him.

"It doesn't matter to you! You're just being nosy…" Sasuke said as Sakura gasped quietly, her eyes nearly drenched in tears.

Naruto too was surprised by Sasuke's behavior. It was unlike him.

"I already told you…I'm an avenger. This exam has a different meaning to me. Becoming a chunin is not my goal. …I need to see if I've become stronger." Sasuke explained, Naruto and Sakura startled by his sudden turn around ever since their fight with Orochimaru.

"The strong ones are here…I won't allow even you to take that away from me. This is my true path." Sasuke said coldly, Sakura trembling as she couldn't quite feel as happy as she used to with him.

"Hey, hey! Sakura's just worried about you! Don't act so cool and-" Naruto spoke out in defense for Sakura only to be stopped by Sasuke.

"Naruto. You're one of the ones I want to fight." Sasuke said with a slight smirk.

He was shocked. Sasuke had accepted him as an equal in power and strength. Naruto was finally being recognized for his true potential. He merely store speechless at his newfound rival, despite dubbing him as one previously.

Meanwhile, Ryu had spoke to Hiruzen about the situation.

"So, what shall we do Hokage-sama?" He said as he began to discuss their decision with Sasuke.

"What Orochimaru said…it has me worried for the boy. Let's allow Sasuke to participate and observe him closely. We can keep an eye on him that way." Lord Third had decided the best route.

"B-But you can't! Hokage-sama!" Anko said, appalled by his decision.

"But if his curse seal become an unstoppable upon it opening, we'll stop him." He said as he took a puff of smoke form his pipe and blew it out.

"B-But..!" She said as Ryu placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's for the best." He said, letting her know it was the best decision for now.

"…I understand." She said as she held her tongue.

Hayate finished thinking things over and begun the preliminaries.

"The preliminaries will now begin. It'll be one-on-one matches, just like real combat. Since here are 20 of you, there will be 10 matches. No rules to these match ups." Hayate explained to the genin.

Kakashi tapped his finger on Ryu's shoulders, getting his attention.

"Ryu. Can you help me out?" Kakashi asked of Ryu's help.

"For what?" Ryu replied, wondering what Kakashi meant.

"I'm going to help Sasuke refrain from tapping into the curse. I'm going to wait a bit of course but when I go, I want you to come along with me. Lord Third had informed me of my duty beforehand. We just didn't think it needed attention so soon." Kakashi said, hoping Ryu would accept.

Ryu nodded, turning his attention to Sasuke and his cursed mark.

"The first match appears to be, Yoroi Akado vs Sasuke Uchiha." Hayate said as it appeared on the uncovered electric bulletin board.

Everyone was surprised to see Sasuke up first. Some saw it as an opportunity to analyze his skills, especially Yoroi.

Sasuke and Yoroi were asked to approach Hayate and stand in front of them,doing so as they prepared for the next battle.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Heyo guys! Happy Holidays, Merry Crhistmas, Merry New Year all that joyful stuff! Hope this chapter is good enough. It may be lacking in action but that's because I needed to set up a few more story structures before getting into the action itself. .<strong>_

_**The next chapter is sure to be action packed and a bit dramatic possibly w**_

_**I hope this is all pleasing to you guys! Have a great day!**_


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